Life, 1912-12-05 · page 76 of 116
Life — December 5, 1912 — page 76: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Main Content:** This page combines two unrelated pieces: a pessimistic editorial essay and instructional camel-riding cartoons. **The Essay ("The Last Reality"):** A satirical complaint that Christmas has become entirely artificial—artificial gifts, candles, decorations, even the homes and food. The author (a "leading pessimist") ironically argues we shouldn't mourn the loss of Christmas trees due to insect damage, since trees are the only *natural* element remaining in an otherwise commercialized, artificial celebration. He mocks modern life as overly mechanized and commercialized. **The Cartoons:** A humorous six-panel instructional guide showing a man learning to mount and ride a camel, progressing from initial positioning to eventually sitting naturally and commanding the animal. This appears purely comedic—practical instruction presented in an absurd context. **Context:** The essay likely references early 20th-century anxieties about industrialization, commercialism, and the erosion of tradition. The reference to women "smashing windows" alludes to the suffragette movement.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Last Reality A Compendium of Timely Information BY OUR LEADING PESSIMIST Hew to Ride a Camel HE newspapers re- —= __ cently chronicled the : : fact that, owing to the r sof éertain repre- hensible insects, — there would he no Christmas trees forthcoming — this year for the children; and they lamented thereon. Why should we bewail? Everything else about the Christmas ceremony — is artificial. The gifts are artificial. They are made of cheap material (most of them in other coun- Position + Position tries), and fall to pieces be- an ordinary camel in a recumbent Put the left foot in the stirrup and vault lightly into the saddle, fore the end of the week. The candles are made of ee y = some mixture produced | by the trusts, and colored with artifi paints. The hom in) which this artificial ceremony. is produced are themselves becoming more and more artificial. The women are away upon purely arti- ficial occupations, such as the smashing. of —win- dows and the making of speeches in a cause which renders them more or less unfit to perform the nat- Penuvtads Position 3 , Position 4 ral CRinetions: for. which pole bagke erace! ally a ele farther than Reverse position and exhale quickly. they were intended. And as for the poor jaded old father, he consoles him- self with artificial wines and whiskeys. And when the family sits down to a Christmas dinner, they indulge in artificial food, permitted under an artificial gov- ernment, the by-product of sn artificial civilization, Why then should we object if the poor old Christmas trees, the only relics that link us with nature, are in very shame Position 5 Practice evenings at home until proficient. disappearing from such Sit naturally in the saddle and from time cae 5 to time speak sharply, but encouragingly, to an artificial celebration? your mount bi eine’ A comicbookeenl