Life, 1908-10-01 · page 13 of 44
Life — October 1, 1908 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes spiritualism and psychical research, popular pseudoscientific movements of the early 20th century. The illustration depicts a séance or spiritualist gathering where well-dressed participants attempt to contact the supernatural. The caption mocks believers who claim to receive messages from "subliminal consciousness" or cosmic forces rather than admitting these are simply concrete, rational explanations. The three brief comic vignettes below ("The Steaming American," "Look Here, Sir," and "In a Department Store") appear unrelated—typical of Life's satirical format featuring multiple jokes per page. The overall message ridicules the credulity of educated people who embraced spiritualism despite lacking scientific evidence, a common target of American humor during this period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE PSYCHICAL RESEARCHERS Miss Flight: pox’r You THINK THAT A DEFICIENT BEING, WHO DOES NOT YIELD TO ETHICAL OR THERAPEUTIC SUGGESTIONS FROM EXTRANEOU: SOURCES, 18 MERELY A SUBLIMINAL CONSCIOUSNESS, NOT VET ATTRACTED BY THE SWEEP OF COSMIC CURRENTS? Matter-of-fact Gentleman (trying to make the best of an evening of torture): WELL, YES—(TMINKS FOR A MOMENT TOR A WoRD)—IN THE CONCRETE, The Steaming American Look Here, Sir In a Department Store HE summer's over. Back we come— JN CAR: “Look here, sir, RS. SHOPPER: I'd like to look at The tall, the short, the fat, the thin— give my seat to that la some hose. And in our super-heated homes Seconn Maw (sitting down): That’ Froox Watker: Yes, madam! Gar- Hot weather will begin! all right, old fellow. She's my wife den or limb? comicbooks.com