Life, 1911-03-23 · page 7 of 44
Life — March 23, 1911 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains literary content rather than political satire. The left side features "A Song to 'Spring'" by Irving Dillon, a poem criticizing Spring as false comfort for working-class men suffering from harsh labor (coal shoveling, system work). It's social commentary on labor conditions dressed as verse. The main illustration titled "For a Bachelor's Study" shows a well-dressed woman with a dog, captioned to suggest she's a prospective romantic interest—likely satirizing bachelor lifestyle fantasies. Below are two brief prose pieces: "Revenge" (a domestic drama story) and "Grass" (discussing lawn care). Rather than political cartoons, this appears to be a typical Life magazine page mixing poetry, illustration, and short fiction with social observation—characteristic of early 20th-century American literary humor magazines.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A Song to “Spring” WANT to sing a song to Spring but, different from the usual thing— Free from the usual rhyming” attitude Of vernal gush and flowery platitude; A song that will voice in fluent meter, The woes of the man with the heatless heater ! I want to sing a song to Spring That will give the pent-up thougats a fling Of the man, who, biceped like a gladiator, Has been battling with a heatless radia- tor; A song that will case the fretted soul Of the man a-weary of shovelling coal! I want to sing a song of Spring That will tell, with the usual melodic swing, The tale of the woes—and properly list ‘em— Of the man who's been up against a “ system "5 hiking coal till his wheezing To keep the pipes of the thing from freezing! And lungs were I want to sing a song to Spring— Endowed with the requisite note of “cling "— To express the relief this feeling At the thought that his coils have ceased conge. gs And the fancy, hugged with a gratitude grovelling, That he's done for a of shoveling! mortal is ime with the task Oh, this is the song that I'd like to sing To the gay, the gladsome, the joyous Spring— The subtle, intense, carth-wide elation Cf the chap released, for a brief vacation, From that dark device of the fiends of hate— The “radi” that will not radiate! Irving Dillon. Revenge MA. aged five, precocious and observant, had been severely spanked by her mother. She sat on the floor, her eyes filled with angry tears. Suddenly she rose with a determined look upon her little face, and seized her hat. “Where are you going?” asked her mother. “ Out to tell all the family secrets to the neighbors,” said the child, firmly. FOR A BACHELOR'S STUDY Grass RASS comes up in the Spring. Grass is the only thing left which has not been imitated in trimmings for bonnets. All flesh is grass, we are told in the Scriptures. Some of it develops into hayseeds, some into grass widows and some into breakfast foods. Grass is worth $14 a ton in the meadow and not worth allow Lawn grass is grown from grass see'l, which is Lought from the florist. Grass 1g 10 grow on the lawn sced of that kind produces mostly tain, dandelion, burdock, mustard and ragweed. Grass will grow between the bricks a walk, but will not grow in n black soil in the yard. Those who exercise the self-restraint to avoid altogether the temptation of alcoholic liquor are on the safe and wiser side.— t CIALLY if they weigh 300 pounds, comicbooks.com