Life, 1913-05-22 · page 14 of 48
Life — May 22, 1913 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks the pretensions of pseudo-intellectual lecturers and oddball academics. The top cartoon asks "IS A BARGAIN ALWAYS CHEAP?" — setting up a joke about value versus cost. The text describes absurd historical "specimen" characters: a torture-implementing gentleman, an eccentric doctor who mutilates bodies, a dinner guest with an enormous mouth, and a "Farmer" who obsessively digs up roots and studies strange phenomena. The bottom cartoon shows turkeys being herded with the caption "SAY YOU! THAT TURKEY TAINT ALLOWED," likely satirizing either animal welfare debates or the pomposity of people imposing arbitrary rules. The overall message appears to be ridicule of self-important lecturers who present dubious "specimens" and historical curiosities as serious intellectual material to gullible audiences.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
IS A BARGAIN The Lecturer of the Future TEN: I take pleasure ig, ex- hibiting to'you this evening a very good specimfs, in almost perfect condition, of Lanies’ Cuotnes.—At one time these curious and in- teresting objects were actually worn quite extensively by ladies everywhere. At this time it is almost impossible to believe that this is the case, but we are so assured by re- liable historians. I now pass to the AutHor.—This gentleman, as you will note, is leaning over an ancient instrument of torture called the type- writer, and, strange as it may seem, he actually spent hours of every day in placing characters upon paper for the pre- sumable edification of others. We now pass to the Arter Dinner Speaker.—You will see that he has his mouth wide open, but not for the purpose of absorbing nourishment. On the contrary, he is actually engaged in telling a species of pre-historic ejaculation, entitled “ The Funny Story.” The historians fail to tell us of what use this gentleman was, and his activities appear to have been purely eccentric. We come now to the FarMer.—At one time this specimen lived in a region entitled “ The Country,” and which was filled with sprout- ing things and other curious phenomena of the past. He spent much of his time in pulling up these strange roots and in going through a process that was humorously re- sceeecem. [oes La 4d F i Rhee eh fap ERVIN APE ee ALWAYS CHEAP? ferred to by the ancients as “ Tilling the Soil.” His habits were quite unique, as he was almost invariably tomed to arising in the morning before the sun was up. We must remember, however, that this was at a period when the sun’s light was more or less depended upon for purposes of illumination. Next we have the Uus- Doctor, one of the most singular and remarkable in- dividuals that has ever lived upon the earth. This person, early in life and with the full consent of the authorities, equipped himself with a set of queerly shaped instruments, and spent most of his time in cutting up human beings and removing their interiors. Not only did he receive large wore ateene. : eae! Sees “say you! THAT TUKKEY TROT AIN'T ALLOWED” comicbooks.com