Life, 1912-03-07 · page 42 of 60
Life — March 7, 1912 — page 42: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising**, with one satirical cartoon at top-left showing an elderly gentleman literally flying (wearing winged sandals) to catch a departing train—a visual pun on speed and modern convenience. The cartoon advertises **O'Sullivan's rubber heels**, framing them as modern "winged sandals" (referencing the mythological messenger god Hermes). The joke: these shoe heels make walking so effortless they seem to give one flight-like speed for urban commuting. The page also includes a serious **anti-vaccination satire** titled "What We Don't Know About Vaccination"—a pointed critique listing 17 unknowns about the procedure, including whether it actually prevented smallpox and questioning forced medical compliance. This reflects early-20th-century skepticism about mandatory vaccination policies, presenting vaccination as medically unproven "superstition." The remaining content consists of period advertisements for cedar chests, beauty cream, and other products—typical of *Life* magazine's mixed editorial-advertising format.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Next to Wings! Little bit startling to the newsboys to sce an old gentleman fly to catch a train that’s begun to pull out of the station! But it’s a glorious sensation for the modern Hermes. No matter whether you go to bed when the lark rises, or rise when the lark goes to bed; no matter whcther you catch suburban trains or the eighteen-hour to Chicago; whether your daily walk takes you from your office to your home, or whether it consists of stepping from the vestibule of your house through the open door of your automobile, with a repetition in reverse at night—you should have the modern winged sandals O’Sullivan’s HEELS OF NEW LIVE RUBBER - (Which means rubber with all the spring in it) Because they make every step an easy one. Say “‘O’Sullivan’s” to your shoemaker when you buy new shoes and when you are getting old ones half-soled and re-heeled. 50c Attached What We Don’t Know About Vaccination . Source of the disease—or its germ. . What the result will be in any case. . Who can be safely vaccinated. . Who will dic from its effects. . How to make it safe or harmless. . What proportion of cases prove fatal. 7. That it ever prevented smallpox. 8. Who is and who is not liable to smallpox. “1 MUST BE A GREAT CONVENIENCE, a, slow many whe) dle of smalivox RK LIke TRAT, FOR SCOPLE WHO have been vaccinated—the facts are sup- OCCASIONALLY HAVE TO DO BUSINESS pressed. IN THE DAYTIME.” me 4 ln. long 2010, wide 21 In, high ‘This elegant copper-bound Piedmont Seathera Red Cedar Chest. Beautiful, ornamental, usef A eichttel westieg See ces ome aes Tena, “Sed tread eee paces ener “ah sn pe arnten tee fied MONT RED CEDAR CHEST CO. Dest. £2, Sater, H.C 10. How to get a safe, pure virus. 11, Whether even a so-called pure virus could be used without serious risks. 12, How often it should be done to Protect. 13. How long its influence for good (2) or evil lasts. 14. How to decide when to repeat it —whether as often as it will take, or in two, five or seven years. 15. How far it would have done away with smallpox unaided by sanitation. 16, What legal or moral right there is “to do evil that good may come.” 17. Why law should coerce acceptance of a medical superstition if not a relig- ious dogma. The purest, the healthiest and the most perfect of all Beauty Creams THE CREME SIMON IS BENEFICIAL Its principal element is glycerine, which sives to the skin health and softness, and doc: not make hair grow on the face. POWDER and SOAP M. Levy, Sole U. 8, Agent, 3 East 17th 8t., New Y comicbooks.com