Life, 1908-04-02 · page 18 of 44
Life — April 2, 1908 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two satirical pieces: **"Spring Song"** is a parody of spring poetry that subverts romantic nature imagery. Rather than celebrating renewal, the speaker repeatedly asks the urgent question "What shall we wear?"—mocking women's fashion anxiety during spring wardrobe transitions. The satire targets the disconnect between poetic idealization of spring and the mundane, genuinely stressful reality of seasonal clothing changes. **"A Wise Move"** is heavy irony criticizing the authorities' response to a young New York businessman who resigned, claiming his salary was unearned. Rather than praise his integrity, they committed him to an asylum as "insane." The article sarcastically defends this decision, warning that if workers questioned whether their pay matched their labor, it could spread dangerously—threatening that soldiers or miners might demand fair wages. The joke exposes how threatening the status quo finds any worker questioning economic fairness. **"The Easter Parade"** illustration (bottom) appears unrelated editorial cartoon content. The copyright date is 1908.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
350 Copyright 1908 by Lite Putting Company Spring Song (With apologies to Mr. Carman) AKE us over, Mother April, when the sap begins to stir, When the birds renew their love-song, and the pussy-willows purr, When a haze is o'er the woodland, and a hush is in th Broken only by the question, old as death, “What shall we wear?” When new life is all around us, and new warmth is in the sun, When the earth begins to soften, and the rills begin to run, When a fragrance fills the breezes with de- lights beyond compare, Then we sadly ask the question, new each year, “What shall we wear?” When our winter clothes are heavy, and our thin ones out of date, When our seamstress disappoints us, and we simply have to wait, Make us fish or flesh or fowl, things with feathers, fins or fur, Make us anything but human, when the sap begins to stirt Elizabeth Hall. A Wise Move 2N'TLY a young manin thedown- town district of New York resigned his position, giving as his reason, in a letter to the firm, that his salary was too high and that he could not accept money which was not earned. In spite of the fact that he had a good record and was unexceptionable in his bearing he was promptly confined and thrown into an asylum, it being thought that his letter, though couched in the most dignified language, was evidence enough for insanity. This may have seemed, on the part of the authorities, an unjust discrimination, and yet we are thoroughly convinced that it was both wise and patriotic to nip in the bud what might otherwise become a source of great danger. Suppose that this young man’s example should spread and the general conviction that salaries are too high should become THE EASTER PARADE “st AWFULLY BUSY JUST NOW, JACK, COULDN'T YOU MAKE IT SOME OTHER NIGHT?” prevalent? After the railroad employees, the miners and mill hands, we can conceive that the regular army officers might catch the infection, all of them demanding longer hours and less pay. If this practice were allowed, it is easily conceivable that it might become a source of real embarrassment. The trusts, for example, can only preserve their purity, their integrity and their well-known and justly celebrated high-mindednes: by the noble generosity shown toward their employees; while as for the Government, should army officers, by returning a portion of their wages, swell the revenues, a new source of anxiety would be developed, such a vast sum being a constant temptation to the unscrupulous. It is well, therefore, to nip in the bud any such mistaken attempts on the part of the misguided ones to return even a portion of the bread which has been cast on the waters. comicbooks.com