Life, 1913-05-29 · page 18 of 44
Life — May 29, 1913 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains multiple satirical pieces typical of early 20th-century Life magazine: **Top cartoon:** A domestic scene mocking marriage and alimony payments, with the caption suggesting a husband worried about the cat eating Sunday dinner while he's away—a class-conscious joke about household management and marital anxieties. **"Their Favorite Sports":** A list of puns matching professions to sports activities (lawyers "chinning-the-bar," pawnbrokers playing "hockey," etc.)—wordplay humor exploiting double meanings. **"Serum Wanted":** A satirical advertisement mocking the eugenics movement and pseudo-scientific cure-alls popular in the era. It ridicules the notion that a medical serum could substitute for proper living conditions, nutrition, exercise, and rest—a jab at both scientific overreach and social inequality. **Bottom cartoon:** A small sketch with dialogue mocking a child's messy appearance. The page reflects Progressive-era concerns: marriage/divorce, class differences, and skepticism toward pseudoscientific remedies touted as panaceas for social problems.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Masters LAS, for every son of Adam Who blindly enters matrimony! He'll learn when paying alimony: “You cannot serve both God and Madam!" Their Favorite Sports HE Lawyer’s—Chinning-the-bar. The Arctic Explorer’s—The pole vault, The Critic’s—Throwing the hammer. The Pawnbroker’s—Hockey. The Divinity Student’s — Steeple- chasing. The Shipping Clerk’s—Boxing. The Cook's—Bowls. The Speculator’s—Kite-flying. The Sculptor’s—Marbles. The The The cat. JAMES, SOMETHING TELLS ME THAT 1 LEFT THE PANTRY DOOR OPEN The AND THE CAT IS EATING OUR SUNDAY DINNER.” The The Glencar Water I STOOD by Glencar Water When spring filled all the air, And, oh, by Glencar Water It’s a lovely place to fare! The song of Glencar Water It has such silvery fret And there, by Glencar Water, Are banks of violets. But harsh seems Glencar Water To Norah's soft replies, And the flowers by Glencar Water Are naught to Norah's eyes! Clinton Scollard. EUGENICS CHOOSING A MATE Serum Wanted D—A Serum. Not a serum for a specific or local disorder, but a good, general, panaceatic serum that will mect and conquer all crises. It must be a perfect substitute for right living. It must be ready at all times to jump in where nature fears to tread, to correct the mistakes of the ignorant, the negligence of the careless, the devitalization of the overworked, the gormandizing of the opulent and the enforced abnegation of the poverty-stricken. It must in short be a perfect substitute for good food in proper quantities, pure air, invigora exercise, cleanliness, restful sleep, warm clothing, ete. Millions of dollars p the right party with the right lymph. Address Cullible, Box 499, this office. “Grown up? mun! with ALL THAT SHELL STICKING TO You?” comicbooks.com