Life — November 21, 1912 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 2234 This satirical page contains three separate humorous pieces mocking contemporary issues: 1. **"Strange Animals"**: A brief joke about never seeing a purple cow, yet claiming to have seen a blue bull moose—poking fun at tall tales and exaggeration. 2. **"How You Prove That Medicines Cure Diseases"**: A doctor-patient dialogue satirizing medical quackery. A German doctor prescribes sauerkraut to a smallpox patient, who dies. The doctor then publishes a medical treatise claiming sauerkraut's value—mocking how doctors claimed credit for cures while ignoring deaths, particularly among Irish patients. 3. **"Not Automobiles"**: Criticizes the automobile industry's impact on railroads and leisure travel, blaming engineers rather than cars themselves. 4. **"Time Set"**: A brief comedic phone exchange about a swallowed coffee spoon. The page reflects early-20th-century concerns about medicine, technology, and social change.