Life, 1911-10-05 · page 15 of 50
Life — October 5, 1911 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks the early-20th-century vogue for pessimism as a fashionable worldview. Life magazine announces a fictional "Pessimists' Club" that actively recruits members committed to gloom and despair. The humor works through exaggeration: the club's bylaws require members to be "at odds with all the world," its mottos deliberately invert common wisdom ("Every silver lining has a dark cloud behind it"), and the magazine ironically notes membership is "increasing every hour." The accompanying illustrations—a dejected figure at "odds with all the world" and a pessimist painting everything black—visually reinforce the absurdity. The satire targets not genuine suffering but rather pessimism as performative melancholy, a self-indulgent attitude adopted by middle-class Americans. By treating pessimism as an organized "merger" and social club, Life ridicules it as a shallow fad rather than serious philosophy, implying that such fashionable gloom deserves mockery rather than respect.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
PET PE To All Pessimists, Greeting! Are Youas Sad as You Ought to Be ?— The Pessimists' Club Offers an Opportunity for All Melancholy Minds to Form a Lu- gubrious and Funereal Merger—Hope Grows Less With Every Hour since our announcement of the formation of the Pessimists’ Club, congratulations have been pouring in from every quarter. It is mournfully expected that in a very short time the majority of the American people will become members. Many of them are members now in spirit There is no exeuse for anybody being happy. The club is open day and night. We have inaugurated a ladies’ day—at which only the wives of members will be admit- ted, accompanied by their relatives. AT ODDS WITH ALL THE WoRLD We have just received the following with an applica- tion: Dear Sir: Tam a thorough-going pessimist and should like to be- come a member of your club, but there are times when the clouds lift for me a little and I have bright spots. Is this all right? Can't a member in good standing have glim- mers of cheerfulness occasionally? Yours, Our reply is, No! If we should encourage this sort of thing it would be bound to grow. In order to qualify, you must be at odds with all the world. We do not expect all of our members to achieve this at once, but they must try for it. EVERYTHING LOOKS DARK We have just had some new mottoes prepared and they are now hanging on the club walls and are much com- mented upon. They are as follows: “RE A WET BLANKET.” AUGH, AND THE HOLLOW, MOCKING WORLD LAUGHS WITH YOU; MOPE HERE AND DO IT WITH THE REST OF THE GLOOMERS.” “THIS MAY DE YOUR LAST HOUR.” NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO NENT, YOU'LL WISH YOU HAN DONE THR OTHER THING.” “NOTHING IS PERS SUCCEEDS ANOTHER.” “QUAKING CROUCHERS MAKE GRUESOME GROUCHERS.” “DON'T LEAVE YOUR VALU 3; You May NOT NEED THEM AFTER THE N “EVERY SILVER LINING HAS A DARK CLOUD BEHIND 11.” “MAKE NO EFFORT TO BEAR UP}; ALL WILL RESULT IN FAILURE. Could anything be worse than this communication just received : Drar Sirs: What is your idea in starting a Pessimists’ Club? Aren't things bad enough as they are now? Isn't there enough misery and trouble in this world without your try- ing to get a corner on it?) Shame on you! ENT IN THIS WORLD; ONE MISERY We have replied to this gentleman insisting upon his becoming a member. He is just the kind of man we are looking for. We have just added the “Lamentations of Jeremiah” to our library. . The membership is increasing every hour. It is in- comicbooks.com