Life, 1914-07-02 · page 25 of 44
Life — July 2, 1914 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate satirical pieces typical of early 20th-century Life magazine humor: 1. **"Late New England History"** (top cartoon): A chaotic sketch depicting what appears to be a raid on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The exaggerated, wild figures suggest either labor unrest or criminal activity against the railroad—a topical concern of the era. 2. **"Modern Requirement"** (brief dialogue): A joke about contemporary apartment-hunting where a wife demands a room large enough for the tango—the fashionable dance craze of the period. The humor mocks modern consumer expectations and entertainment culture. 3. **"The Automobile Salesman"** (main article with cartoon): Satirizes the psychological manipulation of car salesmen, who flatter working-class men by suggesting they're important enough to be courted as customers. The piece gently mocks both the salesmen's tactics and the poor man's vulnerability to flattery about prosperity. The magazine's humor targets modern consumer culture, labor relations, and social pretension through light satire rather than harsh criticism.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LATE NEW ENGLAND HISTORY THE RAID UPON THE NEW YORK, NEW HAVEN AND HARTFORD RAILROAD upon this box. It is evidently the name of some unknown god.” “What do you make of it?” “Tt reads D-r-e-s-s-m-a-k-e-r.” “Well,” said the second baby, drain- ing his Josephus dry, “go on. It al- ways takes you so long to arrive at conclusions. You were born with a theological mind.” “T was only going to remark,” said the first baby, “that possibly, after all, Mother is not a first cause. In the great scheme of things—who knows ?—maybe she was created by— Dressmaker.” Modern Requirement RAWFORD: Have you found a new apartment yet? CransHaw: No; my wife won't take a place unless there's a room large enough to tango in, The Automobile Salesman EW of us can own automobiles, but no one is so poor as to be over- looked by the automobile sales agent. To be waited upon by an affable young man desiring to sell a motor- car is one of the most delightful forms of flattery. It costs a poor man noth- ing except his time, which is not very valuable anyway, and it gives him a better opinion of himself. “Perhaps I amount to something, after all,” he thinks, “if these people include me among the favored class.” And there is a world of satisfaction for him in being able to say to his friends: “A fellow is after me to buy a Chuglin Six; they have a mighty at- tractive model this year.” Blessings on the auto salesmen. They keep a man encouraged; they link him up with the prosperous tenth; they restore self-confidence in his soul; they paint afresh before his eyes the vision of success, LAR, BASEBALL TALK SCORING A SHUT-OUT comicbooks.com