Life, 1911-04-06 · page 21 of 76
Life — April 6, 1911 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is the cover/opening page of a *Life* magazine Easter issue, featuring satirical commentary on American Easter traditions and spring fashion. The main cartoon titled "Disguises" depicts Satan (identified in the caption) asking "Where first?" as he surveys various figures in elaborate spring disguises—hats, fashionable clothing, and accessories. The satire suggests that Easter's spiritual renewal is superficial: Americans use the holiday as mere pretense for materialism, displaying wealth through new clothes and European travel while neglecting genuine moral awakening. The editorial text reinforces this mockery, ironically noting that Easter represents "society's awakening" while people return from Palm Beach to "overdraw our accounts" and spend money "as we can lay our hands upon." There's also humorous criticism of the magazine's own cliché—that Easter issues always feature lilies, a tradition so universal they joke no Easter issue has ever been published without them. The satire targets American materialism, fashion obsession, and hollow religious observance.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
This Number A* unusual variety of material will be found in our table of contents this week. Easter has, in a superficial sense, come to be the symbol of an awakening of society—a period when practically everyone berg back from Palm Beach, we may all resume our normal functions of wearing what clothes we possess and spending as much moncy as we can lay our hands upon, to say nothing of overdrawing our accounts. Easter is the time of year when buds are getting ready to burst and the pussy willows put on their spring hats; when opera singers retire to their money vaults and the European hotel keeper lies in wait for the great American traveler. monia, bronchitis and tonsilitis. We take pleasure in announcing that DISGUISES Satan (ofter Lent): “ ware yirst?” It is also the season for pneu- . having long had the exclusive infor- mation about the spring styles, in. this number will be found all the latest modes. In the meantime, we desire to call at- tention to the interesting fact that lilies will be found in this number, as usual. The annals of American literature may be searched in vain to discover a pe- riodical that has ever issued an Easter Number without any lilies in it. AGUS AL DONALA, comicbooks.com