Life, 1910-12-01 · page 66 of 108
Life — December 1, 1910 — page 66: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The page contains two distinct satirical pieces from *Life* magazine: **"The Bachelor's Christmas Spoils"** (top): A humorous list using alliteration mocking the impractical, tasteless gifts bachelors typically receive—onyx ornaments, tambourines, thermometers, neckties, etc. The satire targets both gift-givers' poor judgment and bachelor culture itself. **"See the Public!" (bottom)**: A dialogue satirizing public opinion and civic participation. Two speakers discuss "the Public" as an abstract entity, arguing it's necessary for justifying public officials, taxes, and reformers—though the Public itself is passive and unthinking. The satire mocks: (1) how elites reference "the Public" abstractly while dismissing actual public engagement; (2) self-interested reformers and philanthropists who claim to serve public interest; (3) the circular justification of bureaucracy and taxation. **"Too Modern"** (lower left): A brief joke about a man who installed a wireless (radio) outfit per his wife's advice, now regrets it—likely mocking newfangled technology and domestic decision-making.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE Fre Vai The Bachelor's Christmas Spoils NE odious onyx ornament obtru- sively obnoxious. Two trumpery tambourines trimmed with tassels. Three thingumabob thermometers thor- f oughly theatrical. Four flamboyant four-in-hands fit for a farmer. Five foolish fancy-work frames for pho- tographs. | Six silly slipper-cases sewed with scarlet silk. Seven superfluous shaving-balls scented with sachet, Eight excruciating etchings executed in the early eighties. Nine knitted neckties noticeably nausea- ting. Ten trashy trinkets terribly trivial and tawdry. Eleven embroidered eyesores expensive and effeminate. Twelve tinsel-trimmed traps truly tragi- cal, CW. See the Public! “*QEE the Public!’ “Yes, it is perhaps one of the finest specimens of Public I have ever secn. I wonder what the Public is think- ing about.’” “The Public is not thinking at all. It is just lolling around.” “Is not that rather an inelegant way to speak of such a sacred thing as a Public?" “By no means. One may say almost anything of a Public. It is done every day.” “Ts it necessary to have a Public in a country like this?’ “Oh, yes, indecd; absolutely neces- “Will you tell me why?" “Certainly. It is necessary to have a Public in order that we may have public affairs and public officials and public taxes."” “That seems reasonable. Anything else?"* “Oh, yes. We must have a Public in order that we may have reformers to worry themselves to death in the public interest and in order that we may have public philanthropists to give the Public part of what they have received from fe’? Does the Public take much interest in itself?’ Santa (Xmas. A. M., homeward bound): creat cunsi “No. It does not need to take much WHY DID I FOLLOW MY WIFE'S ADVICE AND INSTALL THIS IN- interest in itself when it has so many FERNAL WIRELESS OUTFIT? private individuals to take an interest . in it. icbooks.com