Life, 1912-02-29 · page 22 of 40
Life — February 29, 1912 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate satirical pieces criticizing American capitalism and social hypocrisy circa early 1900s. **"The Life of Trade"** mocks the phrase "competition is the life of trade" by listing hypocritical applications: a trust magnate crushes rivals through rebates, strikebreakers undercut workers, society climbers betray friends, children displace parents in factories, and lawyers profit from conflicts. The satire suggests "competition" masks exploitation and moral corruption across all social classes. **The Drug Store cartoon** jokes about Christian Science—a religion that emphasizes faith healing over medicine. A customer seeks the front door; the druggist reveals there is none, implying Christian Science practitioners reject conventional medical treatment entirely, making a "Christian Science drug store" absurdly pointless. **"The Good of It"** cautiously defends a reverend's poverty-reduction grocery store, sardonically noting New York's endless problems ("still unfinished") while mocking the newspapers that scoff at charitable efforts. The "Yale Line-Up" cartoon's meaning is unclear from the visible image.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“cee wHiz! The Life of Trade “(> OMPETITION is the life of trade,” Said the trust magnate as he secured rebates and thus put a few of his rivals out of business, Said the strike-breaker as he took the job of a man on strike, Said the workman as he underbid a fellow workman fora Said the society climber as she snubbed an old friend, Said the little child as he took his father’s job at the factory, Said the lawyer as he was handed a comfortable re- tainer for a big legal battle, Said the public on election day when it tried to decide which party was the least of two evils. EL 0. J. USTOMER (after experiencing some difficulty getting in): Great Scott! Isn’t there any front door to this drug store? Druccist: No, sir. store. This is a Christian Science drug AN’ THAT GUY HAD THE NERVE TO GIMME A LOT 0’ HOT AIR ABOUT WASTED OPPERTOONITIES ” The Good of It A NUMBER of the newspapers are inclined to scoff at the effort of the Rev. Madison C. Peters to abolish poverty by opening a grocery store and selling goods at cost, 4 la Mayor Shank of Indianapolis. Perhaps the newspapers are about half right in this, but, nevertheless, the move is fraught with a great and favorable significance which the newspapers seem to have overlooked. N six days God created heaven and earth, but New York is still unfinished. A YALE LINE-UP comicbooks.com