Life, 1911-01-26 · page 24 of 44
Life — January 26, 1911 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page combines advocacy journalism with humor about urban childhood. The top cartoon shows a child being told to "shoot again" by someone behind a stump—likely satirizing street violence or dangerous play in New York City. The poem "At the Play" humorously depicts a child's theater experience ruined by a woman with an elaborate hairstyle blocking the view—a common complaint about theater etiquette that Life's readership would recognize. The main content promotes the Child Welfare Exhibit (February 12, at a New York armory), which documented conditions of poor urban children. The editorial urges readers' responsibility toward children's welfare as a moral imperative. The bottom cartoon shows "Bowery Bill" and "Joe," likely working-class characters, sarcastically commenting on "civilization"—probably reacting to the exhibit's revelations about poverty and poor conditions, with dark humor about what society has "done for us."
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
, ments, the risks they run, the candy they buy and where they buy it, the libraries that keep books for them, the courts that deal with some of them, the work that some of them do, and what it costs them. Children are everybody's concern. No one is excused from responsibility about them. They are the Future; the very Judgment Day which there is no escap- ing. On them depends what life is to be in its next phase. Go, everybody, to see this Child Wel- fare Exhibit, and learn about the chil- dren in New York, and what can be done to better their chances. It is a pretty serious matter to be a child in this crowded city even under the best condi- tions. Learn what the existing condi- tions are and how much they can be bet- tered and how to better them. There is Voice from Behind Stump: Suoor AGAIN, MISTER. ME DIDN'T HEAR YOU. no work more important than work for children. Here is a chance for all of us to learn how to do our share of that At the Play work to better purpose. Y mamma took me to the play, I like the theatre so, "Cause that’s where all the grown-up folks And some rich children go. I thought the music very nice, The stage I could not sce Because a lady with queer curls Sat right in front of me. My papa says when she’s asleep She puts her hair away; If she'd just only took a nap I might have scen the play. Laura Clayton King. The Child Welfare Exhibit O UR friends hereabouts are invited to take notice that the Child Wel- fare Exhibit is now proceeding, and will proceed until February 12, at the Sev- enty-First Regiment Armory, at Thirty- fourth Street and Park Avenue. It has been long in the making and represents the thoughts, labors and other expenditures of hundreds of people who want to improve the chances of children in this town to grow up healthy, sane and competent, The Exhibit aims to give a lively and comprehensive picture of child life in New York. It shows where our New York children are born and live, and what are the influences and associations that give them their training. It pic- tures their homes and home life, their street life, their social life, their amuse- Bowery Bill: AIN'T 17 WONDERFUL, JOE, WMAT CIVILIZATION HAS DONE FoR US comicbooks.com