Life, 1912-11-07 · page 22 of 60
Life — November 7, 1912 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces typical of early-20th-century Life magazine humor: **"The Wishbone"** (main poem with illustrations): A romantic comedy about two young people, Mark and Prue, who break a turkey wishbone after Thanksgiving dinner. Mark wished Prue would marry him but lost the wish (got the smaller bone piece). He dramatically despairs, but Prue laughs at his overwrought reaction and reveals she *also* wished to marry him—so his wish comes true anyway. The satire mocks male melodrama and courtship anxiety. **"The Post of Duty"** (bottom): A quick joke about a street-car conductor who won't speed up because he must stay with his vehicle—prioritizing duty over customer service. It's gentle mockery of bureaucratic rigidity. **"An Embryonic Idea"**: Social commentary suggesting that if philanthropist Mrs. Russell Sage can create a bird sanctuary, society should create a refuge for respectable citizens to escape modern annoyances: police, suffragettes, formal dinners, newspapers, and "highbrows." It satirizes contemporary urban life as insufferable.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
2142 The Wishbone ANOTHER fowl had gone the way That turkeys go, Thanksgiving Day; In ruins lay the pumpkin pie; The foaming cider-jug was dry. The merry guests had left their chairs, The old in groups, the young in pairs, And Mark and Prue (if one might look), Were safe within the ingle-nook. And Mark and Prue agreed to break A wishbone, just for friendship's sake. Each wished a wish in undertone; With thumbs close-pressed they snapped the bone— And none but Mark heard Prudence laugh, Because she held the larger half; And only Prudence knew how dark And hopeless grew the face of Mark. “Why, Mark!” cried Prue; “since Time began Whoever saw a six-foot man “Become so glum and vaporish Because he'd lost a silly wish!” “Yes, laugh!” groaned Mark, “ for you have won! I've lost all joy beneath the sun SOMETHING STRONGER THAN HIMSELF DREW HIM ON TO HIS DOOM Dr, Wilson: THe QUICKEST WAY TO RELIEVE YOU, SAM, IS TO KILL THE HOG “And all the hope I had in life— I wished'that Prue should be my wif She frowned, and then she smiled in- stead, And then she tossed her curly head And laughed outright, that shameless Prue, “Oh, never mind! too!” I wished that, —Arthur Guiterman, The Post of Duty HE traveling salesman had four minutes in which to catch his train. “Can't you go faster than this?” he asked the street car conductor. “Yes.” the bell ringer answered, “but I have to stay with my car.” An Embryonic Idea RS. RUSSELL SAGE has bought an island as a refuge for birds. This is an admirable idea, but why should it not be adopted with regard to human beings? If one can be found anywhere within reach, we should be glad to do our share toward making it such a refuge. There ought to be some place where a human being who leads a respectable life and does his duty by his country can get away from Policemen Suffragettes Dinner parties Restaurant music Newspapers Enameled faces Bad plays Highbrows, ete.