Life, 1913-06-05 · page 11 of 52
Life — June 5, 1913 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon ("LIFE")**: An illustrated sequence depicting a wedding, satirizing marriage as a life progression from courtship through domestic life. The title "LIFE" uses the couple and children as letters, making the visual pun explicit. **Middle Section ("Overheard on a Park Bench")**: A dialogue joke expressing xenophobic attitudes common to the 1910s-20s era. The speaker advocates clearing out "Japs," mentions "Chinamen," and discusses various immigrant groups (Jews, Catholics, Swedes, Germans). The punchline reveals the speaker is himself an immigrant ("Schmeltberger"), creating ironic hypocrisy—he holds prejudiced views while being the type of foreigner he criticizes. **Bottom Image ("'Day's Me 'N' You, Mamie'")**: Appears to be a dramatic film or theater scene in an ornate interior with a bride and wedding party. The page satirizes both marriage and nativist prejudice.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AY, what do you think about the Japs? “ Awful lot of them in the country.” “They ought to clear out the whole bunch.” “You bet. But why stop at the Japs? There’s the Chinamen, too!” “T wish they would ship the Dagos first.” Overheard on a Park Bench “The Jews, for my part. try is thick with them. “T hear there are over twenty mil- lion Catholics in the country.” “Say, what are we coming to “And the Swedes and the Germans. Why out West they own States and iti Look what they did to Mil- The coun- a” “Were you ever down South?” Yo. But I know what you mean.” merica for the Americans is what “That's where you're dead right. Ry the what's your name?” “Wrobelewski. What's yours?” “ Schmitberger.” Alfred B. Kuttner “paT’s ME'N YOU, MAMIE” comicbooks.com