Life, 1910-03-31 · page 36 of 46
Life — March 31, 1910 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page combines advertisements with satirical editorial content. The left side advertises Remy Magnetos (automobile electrical components), highlighting their 1910 market success. The main feature is "Impudent Interviews: Jack London," a poem by Arthur Guiterman satirizing the famous author. It mocks London's public persona—his romanticization of primitive life, his world travels, his anarchistic politics, and his rough-and-tumble reputation. The poem's humor targets London's literary success through sensationalism; Guiterman suggests London teaches aspiring writers to prioritize gore and brutality ("Mental Beefsteak underdone") over quality, and admits to "inventing lies to keep me out of jail." The right side features period advertisements: Makaroff Russian cigarettes and Evans ale, along with a cartoon labeled "A Steam-Heated Flat" (likely depicting urban domestic life). The satire works because readers would recognize Jack London as a celebrity author whose actual works and public statements matched the exaggerated stereotypes presented here.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE: Regal Car on 4,81}¢-mile journey, The driver of the car wrote: “Magneto was under weter for hours with- out injury. We attribute a great deal of the success of our trip to the fact that we had no trouble with the Remy Magneto.” Over 100,000 Remy Magnetos Sold for 1910 Not a quantity user who helped make our immense 1909 season but that adopted the Remy for 1910, besides many manufacturers have adopted the Remy for 1910 who for- merly used other magnetos. Our factory is the largest and best equipped plant in the world devoted exclusively to magneto manufacturing. Remy Electric Company ANDERSON, INDIANA Dept. 19 Branch Distributing Offices: an Ave., Chicago 64th and Broad- way, New York City 471 Woodward Ave., Detroit 406 East 15th St., Kansas City 170 Golden Gate Ave., ‘San Francisco AGENCIES: Auto Equipment Co., isis Colo, Hollis Electric Co., ON. Sixti St, Minneapolis, Minn, J. H, McCullough & Son, 219.N, Broad St, Impudent Interviews JACK LONDON In the hurly and the burly of the Early Pleistocene, Ere the Adamistic Dynasty began, 1 went roaming through the gloaming with my little forest queen, Not a Monkey, nor an Evoluted Man. Oh, we teased the Woolly Bear, And we pulled the Mammoth’s hair, And we took the Snarly Tiger by the paw. Though I've lived an awful lot I have never quite forgot Human Nature as I knew it in the Raw. I'm a Railer and a Trailer and a Sailor of the Seas (In my Present Incarnation, let me add), Anarchistic, atavistic, pessimistic, if your please, For I've roved around the world and found it bad. In the cold Alaskan camps, On the road with grimy tramps, On the ocean in the howling of the gale, I have played a fitting part, And I learned the writer’s art By inventing lies to keep me out of jail. If you're burning to be earning over seven cents a word You must cultivate the Brutal and the Rude. Write a story that is gory; milder matter is absurd, For the Public has no taste for Baby Food. Give 'em Cruelty and Vice, Give ‘em Misery on Ice, Give ‘em rough-and-tumble, marlin- spike and gun; Give 'em groans to wake the dead, Make it Gristly, Ripe and Red, For they like their Mental Beefsteak underdone. Arthur Guiterman. $7 MAKAROFF RUSSIAN CIGARETS 15 cents and a quarter AT YOUR DEALER'S 66 If you would see the bountiful, healthgiving hop transformed into a transcendental fluid, golden in color, sparkling in brilliancy, nectar in taste, and lusciously mild to the palate, order a bottle of EVANS’ ALE. 69 At Le: ding Dealers and Places. C. H. EVANS & SONS, HUDSON, 8. Y. comicbooks.com