Life, 1910-12-01 · page 29 of 108
Life — December 1, 1910 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the predictability and monotony of Christmas traditions. The poem lists repetitive holiday elements—jokes, gifts, decorations, food, activities—to mock how Christmas remains unchanged year after year, with identical customs and predictable exchanges. The illustration shows a crowded streetcar or trolley filled with holiday shoppers, suggesting the commercialized, mass-produced nature of Christmas celebration. Everyone participates in the same ritualistic activities simultaneously. The final line—"It's the same thing, / Old, yet new!"—captures the satire's core: despite calling Christmas "new" each year, nothing actually changes. The piece critiques both the mechanical repetition of holiday customs and the false sense of novelty people maintain about what is fundamentally identical annual behavior. The Chesterfield Junior reference at bottom appears to be a magazine section marker.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AME old Christmas! Same old jokes. Same old slippers, Same old smokes, Same old swaying Mistletoe, Same old kisses— Same old “Oh!” Same old shoppers, Same old rush, Same old egg-nogg, Same old lush, Same old stockings, Same old tree, Same old Santa, Same old glee. Old Thing Same old pictures, Same old verse, Same old pipe racks— On!y worse! Same old neckties, Same old dolls, Same old candy, Same old balls. CHESTERFIELD JUNIOR Same old dinner, Same old cards, Same old gifts from Same old pards— Merry Christmas! Glad! Aren't you? It's the same thing, Old, yet new! comicbooks.com