Life — July 24, 1913 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is a humorous illustration by Albert Briggs Fuller depicting a moral lesson about Sunday observance. The caption reads: "Why William Stubbs! What would your father say if he caught you fishing on Sunday?" The scene shows a young boy fishing by a stream while a woman (likely his mother or another adult authority figure) discovers him. The setting appears to be a wooded area with trees overhanging the water. The joke satirizes religious hypocrisy and parental discipline in early 20th-century America. It reflects strict Protestant values about keeping the Sabbath holy—fishing for leisure on Sunday was considered sinful or at minimum inappropriate behavior that would provoke parental disapproval. The cartoon mocks both rigid religious observance and the threat of paternal punishment used to enforce moral behavior in children.