Life, 1908-08-06 · page 35 of 54
Life — August 6, 1908 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes Theodore Roosevelt's celebrity and commercial value. The top cartoon mocks a wealthy labor advocate hypocritically ordering his cook around—criticizing workers while exploiting household staff. The main content parodies publishers' bidding war for Roosevelt's African hunting memoirs, with Life claiming victory at the absurd price of "$10.69 a word." The satirical tone suggests this is inflated nonsense; the exaggerated language ("mightiest hunter," "excelling Nimrod") mocks Roosevelt's outsized public persona. Lower cartoons continue the theme: one shows a worker reading Life's announcement with approval, the other depicts an honorable man refusing to smuggle. The "Where the Brains Are" section satirizes newspaper hiring, rejecting an applicant for office boy work as underqualified—a joke about minimal standards. The final letter from "Harriot Stanton Blatch" connects dog protection to women's rights, likely referencing 1908 suffrage debates. The page combines mockery of Roosevelt's celebrity commodity value with broader social commentary on labor, integrity, and women's rights.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
TUIS IS THE SINCERE CHAMPION OP LABOR OFFERING A SUGGESTION TO MIS COOK LIFE GETS IT! $10.69 A WORD IS THE PRICE The African Hunting Adventures—The Advance Story Will Appear Here First.—All Other American Publishers Beaten.—LIFE'S Bid was the Highest.—Ex- President Boostevelt Will Write His Adventures In Advance for LIFE’S Readers Exclusively. N the face of the strongest competition ever known for literary material, this periodical is now able to an- nounce that the advance story of ex-President Boostevelt’s hunting adventures in Darkest Africa will appear ex- clusively in Lire’s columns. Once more Lire, triumphs! There is no need to tell our readers of the fierce contest that has been waged by America’s richest publishers to secure this marvelous story of adventure. Every publish- ing firm had own camp established on the northerly shores of Long Island. Each of them had its own staff of wily diplomats, special automobiles, relatives of the family, astute politicians, carefully selected trust-busters, muck-rakers, rough riders, and others who were supposed to be in touch with the august author. But money talks, now as always, and the bids, starting at a dollar a word, crept gradually up until Lire paralyzed competition by its unparalleled offer of $10.69 a word. ivery one knows that ex-President Boostevelt is the mightiest hunter ever known, excelling Nimrod in prowess and Adonis in pulchritude. His advance story of his ad- ventures in Africa will appear only in these columns, and their publication will begin as soon as he has placed his locum tenens in possession of the White House and has had time to prepare the manuscript. AND THIS IS THE OPENING OF HIS MORNING PAPER BY THE CITIZEN WHO NAS ALWAYS EEN A STRONG WORKER POR GOOD GOVERN MENT THIS SHOWS THZ MONORABLE MAN WHO WOULD RATHER CUT OFF IIS MAND THAN SMUGGLE Where th: Brains Are PPLICANT (in metropolitan newspaper office) sir n ready to accept any position—from to chief editorial writer. Proprietor: The editorial jobs are all full at present. Sorry. “ How about that of office boy “You don’t know enough.”” A Hope O THE EDITOR OF LIFE: Your illuminating drawing of the dog at the ballot box fills me with hope that you may soon see that what would protect her dog would protect the woman. Manior Staxtox Beaten. New York, July rith, 1908 comicbooks.com