Life, 1910-12-15 · page 13 of 44
Life — December 15, 1910 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a satirical article titled "Exit the Family Bible" alongside a sketch depicting a crowded ship scene. The article argues that the Family Bible—once a household staple recording births, marriages, and deaths—is becoming obsolete. Publishers note these record-keeping Bibles are disappearing from use, replaced by other sources like Social Registers and telephone books for tracking family information. The accompanying sketch appears to illustrate immigration or passenger transport, showing crowded conditions aboard a vessel, though its direct connection to the Family Bible commentary is unclear from the visible text. A separate humor piece titled "Still Having Fun" features dialogue between a Colonel and a President (likely Theodore Roosevelt, given the early 1900s publication period), joking about political temperament and morning demeanor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Brute: stewarp, Exit the Family Bible UBLISHERS say that the institution known, or once known, as the Family Bible, has’ almost gone vut of use. Bibles abound, but they are smaller ones, handier to read. It is the big Bibles with the Family Record in the middle, be- tween the two Testaments, that is said to be disappearing. Well! Well! Are families of no ac- count nowadays in this country, that they should keep no records? The Family Bible was not much read ; it was too bi but it was carefully preserved and chil- dren were entered in it when they came, BRING ME A BOX OF SARDINES—IN O1L—AND and marriages and deaths, A Family Bible used to be included among wedding presents. Has anybody seen one lately among the properties of a new bride? In various cities the Social Registers keep tab on some selected families, but they are hardly statistical enough in their stories and concern comparatively few people. As far as they go they record marriages and deaths, but not births. You can’t get people’s ages out of the Social Register. For that you have to go to the Who's Who books, but they are even more select than the registers. The telephone book is more catholic in its inclusions but very meagre in sta- tistics. Why doesn’t somebody get out a line A BOTTLE OF BASS. of handsome Family Bibles with the Bible part omitted—slim, handsome octavo books, bound to last, and with due pages in them for the Family Record? This generation needs for use in cities a fam- ily record book for which there is room in a flat. Still Having Fun HE COLONEL: I am the happiest ex-President that ever was! Yes, Colonel. That is because you have the hest digestion—physical, mental and political—that an ex-President ever had. One of the wonderful things about you is the clean taste in your mouth in the morning, no matter what happened the night before.