Life, 1910-03-03 · page 58 of 80
Life — March 3, 1910 — page 58: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical poem and illustration mock the hypocrisy of the wealthy and powerful—their hidden scandals and moral failures concealed behind respectable facades. The main figure is a "great political boss" whose ill-gotten wealth ("gold in whose fingers had turned to dross") represents corruption. Another skeleton represents a liar whose tongue was "chained by fire," and one who "stabbed reputations all in the dark"—likely referencing actual political figures or types recognizable to 1905 readers. The "family skeletons" metaphor—dark secrets hidden in closets—literalizes as grotesque dancing skeletons emerging from gilded walls and subterranean passages. Their rattling bones create involuntary music, suggesting their sins cannot remain hidden forever. The satire targets elite hypocrisy: respectable society conceals moral corruption. The poem implies that eventually, everyone's "skeletons" emerge into public view. The 1905 date suggests this reflects contemporary Progressive-era scandals and public corruption exposés.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Epitaph I N memory of our father: Gone to join his appendix, his tonsils, his olfac- tory nerve, his kidn his ear drum, and a leg prematurely removed by a hos- pital surgeon who craved the experience. (October 26, 1905. No, 1200.) The Definition of the Defeated HE: And so you think I'm a co- quette? Why, I don’t believe you know what a coquette is. He (bitterly): A coquette is a woman who syndicates her affections. (October 190s. No. 1200.) ID you hear of the family skeletons’ ball? From many a closet in many a wall— Many a gorgeously gilded wall— Thro’ passages curtained with many a pall, They trooped to a subterranean hall ; Skeletons spare and skeletons tall, Skeletons stout and skeletons small. There were skeletons grim id skeletons grinning, Skeletons sinned against, skeletons sinning; Skeletons staggering up from the mud, Skeletons stained with innocent blood. Here was a great political boss, The gold in whose fingers had turned to dross; And one with a tongue all chained by fire Recause its owner had been a liar; He had stabbed reputations all in the dark, And this Cain of character bore bis mark. nt to see how the partners mer, edo How skeleton couples danced cach set— Soot Danced tll their naked bones were wet a With an oozy, clammy, horrible sweat; And they needed never a castanet, For their joints made a noise one couldn't forget, If one heard it once one would hear it yet. Otherwise there was no music at all At the family skeletons’ midnight ball Kemper Bocock. (March 12 1891. No, 428.) eat thi creas GETTING IN THE WAY OF IT comicbooks.com