Life, 1913-12-04 · page 69 of 112
Life — December 4, 1913 — page 69: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes American consumer culture and charitable impulses around Christmas (circa 1910s-1920s). **"The Point of View"**: A simple joke contrasting optimist vs. pessimist attitudes toward Christmas—one enjoys the present, the other dreads the bills. **"On Life's Wire"**: The main satire features "Spug," spokesman for the "Society for the Prevention of Useless Giving." Life magazine's editor converses with him about their anti-consumerism campaign. The humor lies in the irony: Spug boasts that their organization opposing wasteful gift-giving has already grown to 7,000+ members and is "doing business" like any commercial enterprise. The satire mocks how anti-consumption movements themselves become commercialized and self-promotional. **"His First Real Christmas"**: The illustration shows a child decorating a tariff-protected Christmas tree laden with commercial products (flour, beer, etc.), suggesting how tariff policies inflate consumer goods prices—thus making even Christmas commercialized by government economics. **"Sequence"**: A simple schoolroom joke about national flowers, with the punchline that Spain's is "bullrushes"—likely a mild insult or nonsense answer.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Point of View ‘OU can make your Christmas pleasant Or unhappy, as you will: The Optimist sees the present. The Pessimist sees the bill. On Life’s Wire “HE O, Lire?” Yes.” “ Spug speaking.” “Who?” “The Society for the Prevention of Useless Giving.” “To be sure. How stupid of us. Delighted to hear from you again.” “Thanks, Lire.” “Still at it, are you?” “Indeed we are. And we're going to stay at it. You know, Lire, this is no joke. There is a tremendous need for just the kind of work we are doing.” “No doubt of it in the world.” “We've already proved it. We've been going less than a year and yet our membership is over seven thou- sand.” “You don’t say!” “True as gospel, and, of course, that doesn’t include the many other thou- sands who have been emboldened by our propaganda and our activities to put their thinking caps on. This habit of useless giving at Christmas has grown to be a terrible burden and is threatening to crush out the real Christmas Spirit entirely.” “Right you are, Spug. That's the way we've felt about it for a long time. Is there anything we can do to help along?” “Yes, indeed! There is much you can do, In the first place, you can put it in the paper that we are still doing business at the old stand, 105 West Fortieth Street.” “We'll do it.” “That will let the public know where to write for information and member- ship blanks and buttons.” “ Anything else, Spug?” “Everything else, Lire, that your fertile brain can evolve to impress upon the public the fact that we are going ¢ Ry J UNDERWOOD TARIFF TREE [(stqvown cxcanre! HIS FIRST REAL CHRISTMAS to stay on this job until we have re- deemed Christmas from the sordid depths to which it has sunk.” “That's the idea, Spug! We're with you. You can count on us to the very last for a safe, sane and salu- brious Christmas.” * “We ki you wouldn’t go back on us, Lire. Many thanks for your words of encouragement. Good-bye.” “Good-bye, Spug. Please keep us constantly in touch with the progress of events.” £0. J. Sequence ACHER: Now, children, you tell me what are the national can flowers of England? Roses. nd France? Cass: TEACHER: Ctass: Lilies. Teacuer: And Spain? (Silence for a minute—then small voice at back of the schoolroom:) “ Bullrushes, ma’am.”