Life, 1910-12-01 · page 44 of 108
Life — December 1, 1910 — page 44: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous poem paired with satirical illustrations imagining Christmas gifts for zoo animals, with each present playing on animal characteristics or names. The left cartoon shows a man observing the scene "as it appears to some"—suggesting an outsider's perspective on this whimsical scenario. The humor works through puns and visual jokes: the Elephant receives "a trunk of soap," the Giraffe gets neckties, the Monkey receives a monkey-wrench. The parenthetical note about hoping a phonograph would make the Parrot "dumber" suggests commentary on noisy, repetitive behavior. The right illustration depicts Santa Claus in a wreath, representing the gift-giver. This is straightforward Victorian-era comic verse with animal personification—a popular genre of light entertainment in early 20th-century American magazines. No deep political satire is evident; it's children's humor dressed in sophisticated publication.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AS IT APPEARS TO SOME Christmas at the Zoo HE Zoo enjoyed a Christmas spree, With presents on a dogwood tree; I can't record them all. The Mole, an elegant lorgnette, Beaver, an excavating set, The Hare, some side-combs small. The Pig, a stylish fountair. pen, A dainty hatchet, every Hen, A butter dish, the Goat, The Lynx, a compound microscope, The Elephant, a trunk of soap, The kind they say will float. A lovely bathing suit, the Frog, A new supply of pants, the Dog, (He used his up last summer), Ten yards of neckties, the Giraffe, The Parrot green, a phonograph, (They hoped *twould make her dumber!) The Owl, Minerva's queenly head, The Sloth, a mammoth feather-bed, Muskrat, perfumery, 3 A monkey-wrench, the Monkey gay, For opening cocoanuts, they say, Pansies, the Chimpanzee. Camilla J. Knight. comicbooks.com