Life, 1913-02-20 · page 18 of 48
Life — February 20, 1913 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is satirical mock-praise of Alabama from a Life magazine correspondent. The piece uses sarcasm to critique the state's actual conditions by listing them as "achievements": **The Satire's Targets:** - Alabama's conservative politics (locked into ante-bellum Democratic voting) - Child labor practices (boasting it keeps children working longer than other states) - Lynching violence (claiming only 5 lynchings versus Georgia's 11 as something to be "proud of") - Lack of modern infrastructure and conveniences - General backwardness masked by alphabetical ranking as "first" state **The Joke:** By pretending Alabama is exemplary while describing genuinely deplorable conditions—child exploitation, racial violence, poverty—Life exposes these as the state's actual failures. The correspondent's closing quip ("we should move there ourselves") undercuts the entire "praise," revealing it as biting criticism of Southern social conditions and Democratic political conservatism. The right-side cartoon "Was Adam a Husbandette?" appears unrelated to the Alabama piece, likely addressing gender issues separately.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OBSCURITY A Grand Old State CORRESPONDENT, writing from one of the metropolises (or is it metropoli?) of A wants to know what Lire has against that great Southern commonwealth. What nonsense! Lire has nothing at all against Alabama. On the contrary, we believe that from a certain point of view, fr several points of view in fact, Alal the leading State in the Union. To begin with, Alabama is safely and sancly conservative. What it is to-day, it has always been, and, d. v., it always will be. There is never any doubt where to find A i not only on the map, but politically as well. Alabama can be counted upon to come across with as staunch and sterling an ante-bellum Democratic vote as ever crammed a_ ballot box. Alabama has many notable claims to supremacy, not the least of which.is the fact that she stands at the head of all alphabetical lists of States, Not only that, but Alabama had only five lynchings last year, while Georgia had eleven. This is a record to be proud of. In addition to all that, Alabama has a number of cities with regular sewer systems, while modern conveniences, even if not indigenous, are by no means rare within her boundaries. And, greatest of all, Alabama can put little children at work earlier and keep them at work longer than any other State. No. Alabama is quite a nice little State and some very nice people are still there. If it weren't for several things, we should move there ourselves. PT WR eR WAS ADAM A IUSBANDETTE? comicbooks.com