Life, 1910-10-06 · page 49 of 60
Life — October 6, 1910 — page 49: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page consists primarily of **advertisements and poetry**, not political cartoons. The main content is "The Optimist," a satirical poem mocking obsequious praise and flattery. The speaker boasts of lavishing indiscriminate compliments on everyone—millionaires, actresses, fraudsters alike—with no regard for merit. The satire targets those who profit from empty praise and lack integrity. The advertisements include **W.L. Douglas shoes** (emphasizing durability and value) and the **Haynes Automobile Company** (Model 20, positioned as superior quality at moderate price). There is **no political cartoon visible**. The poem's satire is social rather than political, critiquing the culture of false flattery in Edwardian society and the advertising industry's manipulative practices.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
VENDSKY avitchoikachewvendsky, offandneversendsky score pad, rad. angraboff'spendsky.”” OUR PLAYING CAT colors sed atea eataber. 44 Peart &t.. New York The Optimist Let others ply the scurril dart, To every virtue blind, Mine is the nobler, gentler part glorify mankind Unstirred by spite, unmoved by qualms, | live laborious days In ladling out my precious balms Of superfatted praise. In strident tones I love to greet ch_multi-millionaire ; see kind hearts in Curzon Street, Pure souls in Belgrave Square. Ihe simple homes of new-made lords With ecstasy I paint, And every actress on the boards I welcome as a saint I cheer the rare secluded soul With gross unwelcome laud With equal fervor I extol The worthies and the frauds. + And no scli-advertising ass Who deals in brag and bluff Is 100 preposterously crass To miss my weekly puff Tis so with letters as with life: Good authors may go free Of Bludyer’s lacerating knife; They cannot 'scape from me. But whether they be great or small, Or superman or sub., Elavish butter on them all From exhaustless tub. Nor is it solely on the quick I my praises shed, ral measure, slab and thick, ap them on the dea :— — = —=| W. L. DOUGLAS. HAND-SEWED PROCESS Ss H fe] E Ss MEN'S £2.00, $2.50, $3.00, $3.50, $4.00 & $5.00 | WOMEN'S £2.50, £3, £3.50, $4.00 HOYS' 2.00, $2.50 and £3.00 HE STANDARD [ qT FOR 30 YEARS hey are absolutely the most. Popular and best slioes for the pricein America, They are the fiers everywhere “because ‘ ey hold th shape, fit better, ne better and wear longer iting cther makes, They are pos- fon 'y the most economical shoes ot to buy. W..L. Douglas name wralne 2eUl price are stamped on the bottom T AKEs ranteed, Fast Color Eyelets. NO SUBSTITUTE! If your dealer The Superb Haynes Don't choose a Haynes merely because it is the only car of established reputa- tion selling at a moderate price. Choose it—as a thousand others did last year— because it is undeniably the best value, quality considered, at anywhere near its price. The Haynes you knew last year—the famous Model 19—has an even greater car for a successor. Model 20 for 1ort hasa 14-inch wheel base—with heavier wheels, The body is longer, wider, roomier and more comfortable, It has 35-40 horsepower. The equipment is not only absolutely complete but of the highest grade obtainable, For example, we supply the famous Warner Auto-Meter w y cat. Money can buy no better. (Only a speed indicator of this quality is entitted to be put oa a car of Haynes quality.) Complete equipment includes top. dusthood, dual Bosch ignition system, glass front, Type Ib Prest-O-Lite tank, full set of lamps, robe‘and foot rail—everything either needed of wanted on a ar, The Haynes name and reputation is your best possible safeguard in purchasing a car: Literature gladly sent on request Haynes Automobile Company 218 Main Street Indiana Licensed under Selden Patent Till heroes of the spacious days The paladin of high romance, Join in a never-ending dance And queens and beauties, who of yore Mletsupely you,write for Mall Order Catalo; iA ha by" a Ke WADOUCLAS) 155 Spark St, Brockton Macs, I bring in hu Of great ‘s reign The modern servants’ hall Assune the bright and winning ways Of Winston and Hall Caine. What matter if some squeamish folk A rare resentment feel, If jaundiced critics growl and croak Of mercenary zeal; No irony, however fierce, Can mortify my pride; No spear is sharp enough to pierce The thickness of my hide. The martyr and the sage, Across my chatty page; Made empires clash and fall,