Life, 1912-07-11 · page 27 of 44
Life — July 11, 1912 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical short story (not a cartoon) about a newly elected female mayor, Miss Phoebe Pinkton, confronting her opponent Timothy Allen. The joke hinges on gender and political expectations of the era. Allen reveals he deliberately lost the mayoral election by asking his loyal voters to support Pinkton instead—a shocking admission of intentional defeat. His motivation: romantic. He confesses he "loves" her and knew she wanted the position desperately, so he sacrificed his own ambition to win her affection. The satire mocks both characters: Allen's paternalistic chivalry (deciding what's best for a woman) and the implication that a female politician's ambitions are merely personal desires rather than serious political aims. The phrase "Mayor elect—or Mayoress" in the text also signals contemporary uncertainty about how to even address a female office-holder. The humor derives from the absurdity of sacrificing an election for romance in ostensibly serious politics.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SNAILS. Politics in Peerville “CAN it be possible?” Miss Phoebe Pinkton, the newly d Mayor of the Borough of Peer- ville, sat facing Mr. Timothy Allen. The week before there had been an exciting election in Pcerville. Miss Pinkton, who had begun her career by taking a course in a law school and had served three years on the Board of Education, had run against Mr. Tim- othy Allen, and, although the vote had been close, she had won. She was now sitting in the } chair. Mr. Allen was paying his first visit. He had taken the precaution to close the door before he sat down. “ Yes," he said in answer to her sur- elect prised question, “it is true. I can show you the papers.” “ Never mind,”—impatiently—* I be- lieve you. Every one knows that you are truthful. Just explain it.” Mr. Allen smiled in a self-conscious way. He was plainly embarrassed. like this,” he proceeded, a preliminary canvass revealed that the thing was going my w Now the boys in the Highland Avenue district were all loyal to me—I could count on them. They represented thirty votes. I called ‘em together and asked ’em to vote for you —asa favor. I putiton the ground that I didn't want the mayoralty yet—and “Tt was well, they obeyed of "em did. That is, about You got in by six- You see, I could have had “Why did you do this?” “Miss Ph I did it for your - I knew it was your pet ambition. I knew if the thing went against you it would turn you against me. I wasn’t going to tell, but I had to. It was on my conscience. You see, Miss Phoebe ebe! —I—er—I, love you The Mayor elect—or Mayoress, if you will—rose up from her chair. If her mind had been less judicial she might have shown signs of emotion. (Continued on page 1410) comicbooks.com