Life, 1913-09-04 · page 28 of 40
Life — September 4, 1913 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine contains several short humorous pieces typical of early 20th-century American satire: **"The Cheerful Thinker"** (Cleveland Plain Dealer) ironically presents someone claiming they'd *love* to pay income tax—a joke about the recently instituted federal income tax, which was deeply unpopular. The humor lies in the obvious contradiction: the speaker's enthusiasm is transparently false. **"A Sage"** offers a brief philosophical quip distinguishing wise people from foolish ones. **"Oh, But It Was Cruel"** describes a woman on a train being mocked by a newlywed couple for her outdated clothing. She responds by sarcastically calling the groom "son," implying the bride is much older—a clever insult delivered as a social "gotcha." The remaining anecdotes mock medical intervention ("operating on a Philadelphia boy's head") and parental discipline. **The Kranich & Bach advertisement** promotes player-pianos, emphasizing their superior self-playing mechanism. The central illustration appears unrelated to specific text—likely decorative filler typical of magazine layouts of this era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
¢ [oe ‘Se erete: The ae Thinker I'd love to pay the income tax, I'd pay it with delight; I'd pile the stuff in precious stacks— I'd sit up half the night. I'd try to be the first to pay— I'd be it if I could; And then I'd go my cheerful way— At least, I think I would. Of course, I'd want an income big, So I could pay the more; The deeper down I had to dig The richer stream I'd pour. If I had coupons piled in racks, With millions to the good, How joyously I'd pay the tax— At least, I think I would. —Cleveland Plain Dealer. A Sage A sage is a nan who will sit up all night and worry over things that a fool never even heard of. —Cincinnati Enquirer. WILL HE WHO FLIES AND LANDS ON HAY LIVE TO FLY ANOTHER DAY. Oh, But It Was Cruel A woman entered a railway train crowded with winter tourists and hap- pened to take a seat in front of a newly married couple, She was hardly seated before the couple began making remarks about her which some of the passengers must have heard. Her last year’s bonnet and cloak were freely criticised, with more or less gig- gling on the bride's part; and there is no telling what might have come next if the woman had not put a sudden stop to the conversation by a bit of clever feminine strategy. * She turned" her head, noticed that the bride was considerably older than the bridegroom, and in the smoothest of tones said: “Madam, will you please have your son remove his feet from the back of my chair? "—Ladies’ Home Journal. “I see they have operated on a Phila- delphia boy's head in order to make a better boy of him.” “That isn't where my dad used to operate on me to make a better boy of me."—Houston Post. Aiched every, Thursday, simultapeossty in the United Staten, Great Be Detage to foreign counteies Bick numbers, after th ion will be returned unless accompanied hy stamped and addressed envelope masble for the last or momreturm e” unsolicited tontribitiont piano Kranich & Bach, you can be certain that no other of cheaper piano contains the same kind of a self-playing mechanism. If * 7 you have any other player-piano there are / nine chances out of ten you will find that some ? cheaper or lower grade instrument contains a Ae ul ia Tm THE KRANICH & BACH PLAYER-PIANO 4 contains a_ superbly constructed player-action + made by Kranich & Bach exclusively and ex- , pressly for Kranich & Bach pianos, and is built \ completely in every detail in one factory under \ the supervision of men who have made \ the Kranich & Bach name a synonym for su- anship, exquisite tone and wonder: lity. iWrite for Catalog KRANICH & BACH . 237 East ae Street New York City Postal Union, tne tom dace of pub self-playing mechanism identical with yours. | Lave doce mot ipa oy re copyrighted. For Reprint Rights tn Great Britain apply to Lire, de sent by subscribers of any change of addrest. comicbooks.com