Life, 1910-01-06 · page 41 of 76
Life — January 6, 1910 — page 41: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents two distinct elements: **Main Contest**: "What Does This Telegram Say?" — A reader contest offering $100 for the cleverest ten-word interpretation of a telegram visible in an illustration. The image shows a domestic scene with well-dressed figures, a small child, and a dachshund, with a man holding what appears to be a telegram. The humor likely derives from guessing what dramatic or humorous message the telegram contains based on the characters' expressions and body language. **"The House That Jack Built"**: A satirical prose piece by Ramsey Benson that uses the cumulative structure of the nursery rhyme to mock financial excess and social climbing. It traces a chain of consequences: a mortgage leads to financial strain, which somehow results in a woman gaining "social prestige" through automobile ownership—suggesting that Depression-era debt and conspicuous consumption were intertwined paths to social status. The piece gently ridicules how mortgages and material goods became markers of respectability.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
What Does This Telegram Say? LUFE WILL PAY $100 FOR THE BEST ANSWER TO THE QUESTION ABOVE Ten Dollars a Word HE picture on this page represents an unusual situation Please study it carefully, and see what you can make out of it. Note every detail. When you have made up your mind what ten words or less the telegram in the man’s hands might contain, exclusive of the address and signature, write it out and mail it to the Telegraph Editor of Lire, with your name and address The cleverest teleg in the judgment of the editors of Lire, will be awarded the prize of one hundred dol lars. Everybody is eligible. But no more than three telegrams will be accepted from any one contestant The contest will close on March 1, 1910, no answers received after that date being considered. The announce- ment of the winner will be made as soon thereafter as possible. The House That Jack Built HIS is the house that Jack built This is the mortgage that was clapped on the house ack built This is the wind that was raised by the mortgage that was clapped on the house that Jack built. This is the car that the wind was blowed into that was raised by the mortgage that was clapped on the house that Jack built. This is the woman that rode in the car that the wind was blowed into that was raised by the mortgage that was clapped on the house that Jack buil ‘This is the social prestige achieved by the woman that rode in the car that the wind was blowed into that was raised by the mortgage that was clapped on the house that Jack built. _ And this (for there will perhaps be some curiosity to know about even so trifling a detail of the business) is Tack Ramsey Benson. comicbooks.com