Life, 1909-06-03 · page 21 of 56
Life — June 3, 1909 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains multiple satirical pieces typical of Life magazine's humor. **"Peace and Stability"** (top cartoon): A couple on a ship has run aground on a rock. The seasick woman is relieved, saying "Thank God!"—the joke being that being stuck on a rock is preferable to the ship's motion causing her illness. **"Dictators"** (essay): A reflective piece about historical strongmen (Aristides, Cromwell, Marius, Sulla, Pericles, Napoleon are named). The author notes dictators typically stay in power, but suggests the "game" has changed—implying modern dictators might operate differently. This appears commentary on contemporary authoritarian figures, though no specific modern dictator is named. **"The Place to Calm Down"** (bottom): An office joke where an excited woman visits an editor. The editor dismisses her to the "composing room"—where loud printing machinery would silence her excitement. **Right cartoon**: A tour-guide sign humorously recites pseudo-historical facts about European monuments, poking fun at tourist memorabilia and garbled historical claims.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
PEACE AND STABILITY He; THE CAPTAIN SAYS WE'RE HARD AND FAST ON A ROCK, , She (very sick): THANK GoD! afternoon naps sitting right in a draft; but none of these afternoon nature receptions struck us as being at all fierce. That doesn’t seem to be the right word. Let us hope that there will be no cold snaps at Sunrise Park next summer. Dictators Oxe in awhile there appears the man who touches the popular imagination, and becomes a dictator. Often 'sa bit of a mystery how he turns the trick, but all the same nothing will stop him. Being just docsn’t always help. Aristides tried that and lost out. Nor does it necessarily put a man out of the run- ning to be a colossal bore, as witness Cromwell. Some peo- ple object to being slaughtered and otherwise messed up, but Rome had a taste for that sort of thing, hence Marius and Sulla. It has hitherto been the practice of dictators to stay on the job—neither Pericles nor Napoleon took time to go hunting lions in Africa. However, the game is altogether too big to be played entirely by precedent. Ramsey Benson. “ E new method of fireless cookery has made a hit with me,”’ said the Christian Science woman. “ It’s just like absent treament, you know.”” "The Place to Calm Down ICE BOY: Here's a lady what insists on seein’ you! She’s awful excited! Epitor: Then escort her to the composing room, you idiot ! os rtd S 149i oie w WAS ERECTED IN 1492 1p iw Tat TIME OF, gana? |" Bro rou sag “EON SToppeD beng Thy STATUE WAS yet etl Ad SOUVENIRS OF OUR FIRST TRIP TO EUROPE comicbooks.com