Life, 1913-12-04 · page 67 of 112
Life — December 4, 1913 — page 67: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a *Life* magazine short story (not a political cartoon) about class conflict disguised as a Christmas moral tale. The plot centers on twelve-year-old Bertie Traynor, a wealthy boy, wanting his friend Joe Henkle—the poor, red-headed son of a policeman from a tenement—to stay overnight on Christmas Eve. The satire targets upper-class snobbery: Mrs. Traynor forbids the friendship based purely on class ("distinctions"), not character. The irony deepens when Mr. Traynor (representing "most of the millions" in town) recognizes Joe as the boy Bertie once called a "Mick" (a slur for Irish immigrants) in a fight—yet even this working-class Catholic connection doesn't validate the friendship for the parents. The story's title suggests "love finds a way," implying class barriers will be overcome, but the parents' resistance exposes the hypocrisy of wealth-based social hierarchies. This reflects early 20th-century American tensions between old-money WASP society and immigrant communities.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ligt: Wp LIFE Aas op RTIE. TRAYNOR, who had re- B cently boasted of the very con- siderable age of twelve years, stood upon the step of his mother’s motor car and argued with her, The argument related to Joe Henkle, one of the numerous scions of the house of Policeman Henkle, who lived with his numerous family in an ad- jacent tenement. “Can't Joe stay all night with me, mother?" said Bertie, his face illumi- nated with adolescent earnestness. “Of course, mother, we both of us understand about Santa Claus, but that doesn’t make any difference. He never has any presents, and when he wakes up in the morning we can pretend just the same as I used to. He is a very good friend of mine.” Getting Even With Joe Mrs. Traynor was immensely shocked, and didn’t conceal it. “Tt isn’t to be thought of, Bertie,” she replied. “Besides, I don’t want you bringing that boy into the house. It is impossible to explain to you these distinctions. It isn’t that the boy is not all right, but the moment you in- troduce him into our house you make trouble for everybody.” “But, mother, he has never had a real jim-dandy time at Christmas. You know he is the captain of our football team, and he couldn't be that unless he was all right, and he has done a lot of things for me.” At this moment Mr. Traynor, who represented most of the millions that were in the town, came out from the house to get into the car, and noticed upon the face of his only wife and his only son signs of a difference of opinion. “What's up?” “Tt is really disgusting,” said Mrs. Traynor. “Bertie wants to have that little Henkle boy over here to stay all night Christmas Eve. We must not have Bertie playing around with boys of that sort. The boy may be all right, but it simply won't do.” Mr. Traynor relaxed his face. “You mean that red-headed kid?” he said to Bertie. “ Didn't you get into a scrap with him some time ago?” “Well, I licked him,” said Bertie. “I called him a‘ Mick’—but that was only when I first knew him,” he added apologetically. “The distinction you make is im- LOVE FINDS A WAY ON CHRISTMAS EVE