Life, 1907-01-10 · page 5 of 24
Life — January 10, 1907 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon depicts a globe with a human ear prominently featured, accompanied by the caption "WHAT ON EARTH IS THAT TICKLING WE JUST BACK OF MY LEFT EAR?" Below sits a hunched, distressed figure. The satire appears to comment on **anxiety or unease about something unseen but felt**—likely reflecting early 20th-century concerns about emerging threats (possibly war, economic instability, or social upheaval). The ear as the sensitive point suggests heightened awareness or worry. The accompanying text essays ("Faith," "When We Are Civilized," "Blessed are the rich") discuss idealism, social progress, and class privilege in cynical, prescriptive tones. Without more specific dating or historical context, the exact contemporary reference remains unclear, but the overall tone expresses satirical skepticism about social progress and human nature.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Careful Penman AL PERSIAN penman named Aziz, ] 4,1 think I know my | as is Aziz. Carolyn Wells. Faith ¥ 'AITH is one’s immovable confidence in that which may not be so, after all. Man has faith in himself. He thinks he is considerable, and his wife, being a wise woman, does not disillusion him, but lets him go on thinking he is all he believes himself to be, in the hope that her faith in him may come true. Faith is stronger than hope, more friendly than charity, and is something that neither knowledge, ¢ perience nor the incapacity of our jails can ever utterly destroy. Faith is helpful alike to all, for it is a stronghold for . him who would be honest, and a refuge for the crook. Such is faith. W. F. Rice. ‘When We Are Civilized: P JBLIC servants will devote more time to duty and less to politics. Big criminals will be pursued as relentlessly as little criminals. There will be truth in trade. There will be more art and less commer- cialism. There will be fewer moral cowards. There will be greater effort to obey and less effort to evade laws. Wealth will be less arrogant. There will be no favored classes. Pain will make fewer tyrants. Men will be as anxious to pay debts as to collect them. Advantage will not be taken of ignorance. Man will not fear the truth. Hypocrisy will be a lost art. Manhood will take precedence over position Men will not submit to wrongs to avoid / effort and trouble. \ \ There will be as much patriotism in time of “WHAT ON EARTH IS THAT TICKLING Mm JUST BACK OF MY LEFT EAR?” peace as in time of war. H.C. F. he of ons no lhe sor iced tion rs an uncommonly modest man who doesn’t experience SSED are the rich. There is no magazine or news- a sense of pride if his doctor tells him he has an unusual and paper specially devoted to protecting and educating probably fatal disease. them. : and s of and | s, in comicbooks.com