Life, 1914-07-02 · page 41 of 44
Life — July 2, 1914 — page 41: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page features a humorous poem satirizing Iowa congressman Andrew Vollmer's maiden speech, which apparently praised Iowa's agricultural productivity by declaring "Here's to the Iowa hen. Her son never sets"—a patriotic-sounding but nonsensical boast. The poem mockingly elaborates on this absurdity, celebrating an imaginary Iowa farmer-king enriched by hen eggs. The satire targets Vollmer's inflated rhetoric and Iowa's agricultural self-importance. By inflating his statement to ridiculous proportions—claiming billions of eggs annually and suggesting egg production extends from Iowa to distant locations—Life magazine ridicules overwrought congressional speeches and provincial boosterism. The poem's closing couplet ("Then break an Egg in the cup, I beg, / And we'll drink the health of that Fount of Wealth, / The Hen of Io-wa!") drives home the mockery of treating humble egg production as source of tremendous wealth. The remainder of the page contains period advertising unrelated to the satire.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Lk PEE Songs of the States The Lay of the Iowa Hen “Here's to the Iowa hen. Her son never sets."—From the maiden specch of Congressman Andrew Vollmer, of Iowa. LARE, declare, ye Muses fair, Whence comes the wealth, I “pay, Tires Removed Quickly That Fortune spills on the man who From Stanweld Rims tills : y i The fields of T-o-way! AVE you ever noticed that a eae Far he takes lite Alagus & Atones “flat” tire usually occurs when weld Number King : you need your car most?) And Sixty De- ‘And his wile tsew Social Queen, that’s the time when you wish you f nim ou nka BL And his serfs bow low as they watch owned the quickest and easiest £ ; don't cost much. If you're buying a new car ia ee operating demountable rim t you're buying a new ext Enthroned in his Limousine. ae tice can te Stanwalt oped ith demu Number Sixty. , umber Sixty Stanweld De- added expense shoats, ‘ —merely ask for them. : ee ae mountable Rim Is it colts with limber legs, y Number Or peas, bes beans that swell his Sixty { se 3 Is it corn, is it oats, is it cows, is it f Or you can have Stanweld : Number Sixty Rims applied e: to y old car for a very me Leos " moderate sun. We'll tell you All these ; but most, ‘tis Eggs. where to buy them. A post- card will do. Send it today. ‘Tis Eggs the which have made him If you prefer straight-side ricl,— tires we have some informa- A Billion every year! $ will interest you in- Z F e ens The straight-side All hats off, then, to the Eminent Hen, j ope ef the Number Sete R The Spouse of Chantecleer! is m.de wider at the base n comes off the wheel by merely giv- the old iy. : aight-sidc or she seldom flies, and she neve hat means a larger For she seldom flies, and she never ing six automatic clamps two turns ire, greater air-capacity, tries cach. Then you unlock the toggle- ¥ } PAGEL increased riding - comfort, To dance, or vote, or play, lock as shown in the illustration. r c 1 But sticks to her nest where she does | otice how the inside of the casing pNunber oly ri nee her best is made accessible without compelling clincher or straight-side For the Good of T-o-way you to separate the tire from the side- Bee ype by merely changing rings. That inner band you see in the y the are res There: are other g ; picture is in no way attached to the OP shout the N we SE casing. It can’t freeze, stick or rust to —features th Then blame her, ye who can, the-tize: MD “corporated in noo f,j yo ” e ‘kles of Joud , 1 . ’ ake ie Tf, justly proud, she cackles ont loud | You'll never know what time and ual of 7 Like a new-fledged Congressman. strength economy are until you own a car 3 tell you more about them. = The Standard Welding Co. Send us your . | Flonaers and Werli's Largest Prodscers $ name and A comfort during sum- ; Fir ter DV : Sdircss mer days and evenings ae Ee Eee paca bas ; . The leading makes of pneumatic tires are x: (as easy to use as to say) She sticks to her nest and does her Or East, perchance, to Paris (France), Or pretty near to Rome. prevents all odors Her Billion, white or brown; But,—bless the Bird !—poached, boiled of perspiration Four hundred times a Million Dimes or shirred, . ‘aii f We pay for them in town, Her fruits remain at home. ives one a gratifying sense o ba —_ € 3 3 al ying And (Saints forfend!), if end to end Then break an Egg in the cup, I beg, personal cleanliness. Does not Ye place those ovules straight, An Egg that was laid to-day, check perspiration. The line would reach from Coney’s And we'll drink the health of that beach Fount of Wealth, Clear West to the Golden Gate!— The Hen of I-o-way! Arthur Guiterman. 25 at drug- and department-stores “Mum" Mfg Co 1106 Chestnut St Philadelphia | comicbooks.com