Life — August 20, 1908 — page 6: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "At Life's Farm: Playing Bean Bag" & "He Was Deaf" The top photograph shows children playing bean bag on a farm, illustrating Life magazine's "Fresh Air Fund"—a real charitable program providing city children rural recreation. The text story "He Was Deaf" describes a stranger visiting a Vermont farmhouse. When the host, Deacon John L. Woods, asks the guest to say grace before dinner, the stranger mishears and responds rudely, saying the deacon must "holler like h—ll" because he's "deaf as a d—d old adder." The joke relies on the stranger's misunderstanding of the social ritual—he thinks the deacon is hard of hearing rather than requesting a prayer blessing. The cartoon "The Psyche Knot" on the right appears unrelated to these pieces.