Life, 1911-09-28 · page 25 of 42
Life — September 28, 1911 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two satirical pieces from *Life* magazine (circa 1909, based on the illustration date): **"Bad Boston"** mocks Boston's reputation for moral scandal by sarcastically noting that even the city's art museum isn't safe from vice. The piece references a real controversy: religious leaders and the "School Protective League" demanded school children stop visiting the Museum of Fine Arts because certain artworks allegedly corrupted youth morality. Life ridicules this prudishness by suggesting Boston's moral decay is so complete that even "high art" can't escape the city's corrupting influence. **"Never"** satirizes the human tendency to make grand promises we immediately break. It catalogs everyday vows—from women swearing they'll never forgive men, to husbands promising to write daily, to politicians claiming they'll never seek office again—and notes these "nevers" typically last only hours or days. The tone is gently mocking of human weakness and hypocrisy. The cartoon above shows a woman startled by something (unclear what), accompanying the "Never" piece's theme about broken promises.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Bad Boston EB VeRreepy knows, of course, that Boston is the cradle of ¢ bauchery, the home of scandal, the hot- bed of vice. But we did believe that the less abandoned Bostonians could find safety in their art museum from the degrading atmosphere of the city streets, This item, from the New York World, gives us pain: Protests against allowing school chil- dren of tender years to visit the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, where some of the works of art are alleged to famil- iarize the beholders with vice, were re- ceived to-night by the School Committee from the Rev. Lawrence B. Greenwood, a leading Dorchester minister, and from the School Protective League. Asking that all visits of pupils to the museum under guidance of teachers be stopped forthwith, the School Protective Wife; Goopness, JOHN, HOW YOU DO STARTLE ONE! League declares: “ We believe this has manifestly tended to destroy the morals of the young and has played an impor- tant part in encouraging gross and de- plorable immoralities.” If this be true, there seems little doubt that the Boston Museum of Fine Arts is, morally, a foul place. Never “ATEVER” is a word which is wrongly defined in the diction- ary. In that book we gather the under- Standing that never means not at all forevermore. But— Each day in our broad land young women vow that they will never for- give young men. Men lift their right hands to high heaven and swear that they will never take another drink. Husbands promise never to forget to write every day, Wives promise never to make an- other extravagant and foolish pur- chase. Candidates aver that they will never run for office again. Women say they will never speak to some one any more. Small boys say they never will eat green apples again. In all these cases “never” means any length of time from one hour to four days. To College Students O PEN your mouth and shut your eyes, And, we'll give you something you think is wise. comicbooks.com