Life, 1912-09-26 · page 17 of 48
Life — September 26, 1912 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page announces a $350 satirical contest where Life magazine invites readers to answer ten humorous questions. The "examination paper" uses mock-serious language to pose witty social commentary disguised as quiz questions. The questions target contemporary issues and absurdities: women's suffrage ("Should a suffragette marry?"), the nascent automobile age (choosing between a wife or car), Reno, Nevada's reputation as a divorce destination, and broader social contradictions (finding honest men in America, defining "common sense"). The satire works by framing ridiculous or provocative social questions in academic contest language. Readers are encouraged to respond with "fun, wit, humor and satire" within 200 words total—emphasizing that brevity and cleverness matter more than earnest answers. This reflects Life's role as a satirical publication using humor to critique social conventions, gender roles, materialism, and moral hypocrisy of its era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
*~LIFE- 1853 $350 in Prizes IFE'S readers, individually and in the aggregate, possess a vast amount of valuable information which ought to be tapped for general use and enjoyment. With this in mind we have formulated a set of ten replies please check off these conditions and make sure that you have complied with them strictly. Lire doesn’t want to disqualify any contestant on a technicality. The conditions are drawn to insure fair play and to give every questions which, for pur- poses of identification, we call Lire’s Exastina- TION Paper. The Lire reader who, under the — conditions printed below, sends us the best set of replies, will receive $100 in Uncle Sam's very best currency. The prize will be in the form of a check, which can be exchanged for gold, bills, silver or any other variety of the national circulating me- dium that suits the fancy or becomes the com- plexion of the winner. For the best individ- ual answers to the ques- tions Lire will award ten prizes of $25 each, or . in addition to the prize for the set ranking first give more con- testants a chance, none of the ten prizes will be awarded to the winner of the $100 prize, al- though there is no rea- son why one person should not win two or more of the $25 prizes. Life’s Examination Paper 1. Should a suffragette marry? 2. If Diogenes were searching Amer- ica for an honest man, where would he be least likely to find him? 3. Who invented the hobble skirt and why? 4. A man of marriageable age has suf- ficient income to maintain a wife or an automobile, but not both. Which should he choose and why? 5. What is the funniest thing in the world? 6. Give a good example of perpetual motion. 7. Suggest a better name for Reno, Nev. 8. Define common sense. 9. Why is it dangerous to marry a widow? i0. How would you spend a million dollars to do the least possible good? one an equal chance. CONDITIONS 1. All. answers must be addressed Comretitios Tor or Lire, 17 West Thirty-first Street, New York City. 2. No answers which reach that address Jater then noon, Thursday, Oc- tober 17th, 1912, will be considered. 3. Write on one side aper only. of the 4 Do not write any- thing on the paper except the answers and your name and address on each sheet. If you have any- thing else to say, send it in a separate envelope. 5. The total number of words in all the answers must not exceed two hun- dred. You may divide the two hundred words among the ten answers in any way you please. 6. The decision will rest entirely in the dis- cretion of the editors of Lire and will be final. They have but one object in making their decision, and that is to be abso- lutely fair. 7. The contest is open GENERAL SUGGESTIONS Please do not take the questions too seriously. In examining the replies, fun, wit, humor and satire will count strongly with the examiners. Conciseness and, above all, brevity will also be potent factors in influencing the de Here are the conditions. Please read them carefully and observe them more carefully. To he on the safe side, when you get ready to mail your to all readers of Lire, whether they are subscribers or not. 8. It is not necessary to answer all the questions, but fail- ure to do so will debar the contestant from any chance for the $100 prize. 9. The announcement of the result will be made at the carliest date which will allow of a thorough examination of the rep Due notice will be given. 10. This announcement will appear only in the next two issues of Lire. 11, All answers submitted become Ltre’s property. comicbooks.com