Life, 1910-12-01 · page 48 of 108
Life — December 1, 1910 — page 48: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two separate satirical pieces criticizing early 20th-century American education and student behavior. **Top cartoon:** A Socratic dialogue mocking colleges as institutions that warehouse wealthy boys aged 16-20 who are "too old to be spanked and not old enough to reason." The satire targets colleges as expensive, morally hollow places where professors teach whatever parents *expect* rather than genuine education. The critique suggests colleges function as orphan asylums for the rich—places to contain misbehavior away from home while maintaining appearances through selective information control (parents see only football games and police reports). **Bottom joke:** "Little George" boasts of trading his mouth organ for a spelling paper marked "100"—implying he either cheated or obtained a forged perfect score, suggesting academic dishonesty among schoolchildren. **Right illustration:** Shows adults making Christmas punch, captioned to joke that their morning-after feelings (hangovers) reveal the punch's true potency. The page's overall theme criticizes both higher education as performative and expensive, and youthful dishonesty.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
/ TO MIM TMAT MATIC SHALL DE GIVEN Hire Education “ HAT is a college, papa?’ “A college, Pauline, is a cross between a country club and an orphan asylum."’ “Then why do such nice boys go there, papa?”’ “ Because rich boys from sixteen to twenty are too old to be spanked and not old enough to reason,"" “Do they learn to reason in college?” “ Not if the reverend professors can help it, daughter."* “Then why do they go?” “They go to be got rid of, because they would misbehave at home.’’ “Don't they misbehave at college, then? "* “Well, yes; but their parents don't know about it, unless they go to the foot- ball games or read the police reports.” “But don't their parents teach them morals, papa?’ “Nay, nay, Pauline; it’s cheaper to get it done by hired professors.” “Do the professors know all about morals? ’* “Not at all, my dear; but they know exactly what parents expect them to say.’” “Ts that what makes a complete curriculum? ’’ “No, dear, a complete curriculum is an imitation education furnished by endowed institutions at less than cost to those who are best able to pay for it.’" Bolton Hall. ITTLE GEORGE: O mother, I made a fine swap with one of the fellows who goes to school! I've traded my mouth-organ for a spelling paper marked a hundred! MAKING THAT CHRISTMAS PUNCH JUDGING BY OUR FEELINGS THE MORNING AFTER