Life, 1908-11-12 · page 7 of 24
Life — November 12, 1908 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece critiques a wealthy boy whose parents indulge his every wish. The narrative describes a child who wanted "a bigger house" three years ago and got one—illustrating parental overindulgence. The sketches show how different observers perceive him: his girlfriend sees him positively, other boys view him as a rival/threat, his mother sees only innocence, and his father sees someone shirking responsibility. The central photograph depicts a domestic scene where a woman reads to a reclining man, captioned with dialogue about reading material from a magazine—likely satirizing leisure and escapism among the wealthy. The bottom section, "His Diagnosis Was Right," references Mr. Hartzell, a Pittsburgh businessman who shot himself, with commentary suggesting wealthy industrialists are beginning to examine their own moral character and excess.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE: The Hero of the Hour AS ME LOOKS TO THE BOY WHO PLAYS AS MIS BEST GIRL SEES MIM AGAINST 1136 AS SEEN BY MIS MOTHER HREE years ago almost everyone APA, what is a nature faker?’’ wished he had a bigger house. “Any one who deceives us, my st now almost everyone wishes he had son, about the ordinary facts of Nature.’” a smaller house. “Ts God one? ’” AS ME APPEARS TO HIS DAD, SUIRKING WORK His Diagnosis Was Right N October 20th Mr. Hartzell, who had made several fortunes in the iron trade, shot himself through the head in a California hotel, leaving a note saying that he had too much money and too few friends. Mournful as this incident is, it has its en- “ JOUN, YOU SAID YOU WOULD READ SOMETHING TO ME OUT OF THAT MAGA- couraging side in the evidence it gives that ra” some of the rich Pittsburgers are beginning I’M COMING TO THE READING MATTER, MY DEAR”? to find out what is the matter with them. comicbooks.com