Life, 1911-11-16 · page 7 of 44
Life — November 16, 1911 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine features a satirical cartoon titled "Some Chicago Deputantes" with accompanying verse titled "Ave Chicago!" **The Cartoon:** The illustration depicts what appears to be Chicago political or social figures depicted as exaggerated, portly characters in formal dress at what the caption describes as "a court" where "the Duchess of Hamburge presented the Misses Bull to their Majesties." The heavy caricaturing suggests mockery of Chicago's social elite or political establishment. **The Satire:** The poem "Ave Chicago!" uses mock-heroic language praising Chicago while simultaneously critiquing it—referencing the Cubs baseball team, calling citizens "modest, brave and clever," and sarcastically praising their "fair" maids and "spotless" streets. The final stanza suggests Chicago residents are foolish but claims their worth anyway. The overall intent appears to be good-natured ridicule of Chicago's aspirations to cultural sophistication and social refinement.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SOME CHICAGO DEBUTANTES AT LAST NIGHT'S COURT THE DUCHESS OF HAMBOINE PRESENTED THE MISSES BULL TO THEIR MAJESTIES. Ave Chicago! HERE once among the hills of corn The Redman watched his patient squaw go, Your rosy turrets greet the morn, Divine, illustrious Chicago! For you upon whose altars bleed The lordly steer and fatted porker I toot upon my little reed— A poor, provincialized New Yorker. Superb, unequaled, splendid, grand, Beloved by all the gods and fairies, Your head among the clouds, you stand, Your ten-league boots upon the prairies. Unmatched in honest enterprise Your men are modest, brave and clever, Your politicians pure and wise, Your lovely maids the fairest ever. Your streets are broad and clean; Your brow is breezes; Beneath your azure skies serene, Is none that coughs and none that sneezes. spotless fanned by fragrant Chicago! Sceptred Queen of Marts, Whose court the Dukes of Commerce enter, We hail you, Nurse of all the Arts, The Nation’s Literary Center! —Peill Mell Gazabe. Your baseball team yclept “The Cubs,” Is built of athletes strong and supple To whom all other teams are dubs— Excepting, well, perhaps a couple. Though some who love such foolish toys Revive that tawdry witticism About “Chicago, Ill 0! noise,” And carp in jealous criticism, Oh, heed them not! worth, To you we bow our heads, behold us! You're just the Greatest Thing on Earth— For so your sons have often told us. Arthur Guiterman, We prize your comicbooks.com