Life, 1912-05-02 · page 21 of 58
Life — May 2, 1912 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The page contains two pieces of satirical content: **"A Gone Coon"** (illustration): A sketch showing figures near a bare tree in winter, appearing to depict a racial caricature. The title uses a period racial slur; the exact satirical point is unclear from the image alone, though it likely comments on seasonal hardship or displacement. **"Play Ball"** (poem): A light spring poem celebrating the return of warm weather and baseball season, authored by Minna Irving. No satire detected—straightforward seasonal verse. **"She Knew the System"** (story): Satirizes the chaos of large department stores, where merchandise relocates frequently without customer notice. A determined woman spends an entire day (8:30 AM to 6 PM) searching for a notions counter, only to need help from management to return a spool of thread. The satire mocks both the store's inefficiency and the woman's exhausted persistence in navigating it. The page reflects early 20th-century American magazine content mixing seasonal humor, poetry, and consumer-culture satire.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“GONE COON” 913 Play Ball KNOW that spring 1s close at hand, Though sti the gardens show In sheltered places here and there A goodly patch of snow The bluebirds and the robins, 100, Will soon arrive in sight, Though pools of water in the yard Are frozen over night. The bumble-bee will venture forth In just a day or two, In spite of frost that on the pane Obscures the morning view; And we can leave our flannels off, And furs, without a doubt, Because my brother Bob has brought His baseball bloomers Minna Irving. She Knew the System NTO the Giganticum Emporium De- partment Store, about 830 A.M, walked a small, square-jawed woman. At 4.30 P.M, aided by maps, diagrams and a compass, she reached the spot wher day before, the notion counter had stood. Of course by that time the notions had been moved to some other floor, but as she had ab- normal Sherlockian instincts, and good luck, she discovered the new location shortly before 6 o'clock. Hoisting herself upon the counter she crossed her tired feet and ad- sressed the salesgirl. ow,” she sighed, “ sound the eral alarm; summon all the employees, from cashgirls and window-washers up to the general manager and presi- dent. Also telephone for the bankers who carry the store’s pape: “Um—er— ed the salesgirl, looking furtiv ly about for one of the house detectives. “Tt is quite necessary,” insisted the little woman, kindly, but firmly.“ The last time I was here on a similar er- rand I had to interview them all. It will save me days of walking and talk- ing to get them together and let them all hear my story at once. “What do you wish?” the girl managed to ask. “To return a spool of thread and get my money back,” replied the shop- per, wearily. comicbooks.com