Life, 1914-07-23 · page 23 of 40
Life — July 23, 1914 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon - "Thoughts During a Sunday Sermon":** Shows seven congregation members with thought bubbles revealing their preoccupations: money, entertainment, hunting, business, leisure, and boating. The satire mocks churchgoers for mentally wandering to worldly concerns rather than focusing on spiritual matters. **Letters Section:** Two satirical letters mock corporate lobbying and political influence. A toothpick company president demands congressmen help his business regardless of cost to the country, blaming "politics" for weather and market conditions—absurdly holding government responsible for natural phenomena. The satire critiques how business interests pressure elected officials while claiming patriotism. **Bottom Cartoon:** A mother objects to her daughter marrying an old millionaire, calling it "outrageous." The daughter's reply—"that isn't all I think of spending"—suggests she's interested in spending his money, not just marrying him. This satirizes materialistic courtship and women's financial dependence on marriage. **Overall Theme:** The page satirizes American self-interest: religious hypocrisy, corporate greed exploiting democracy, and mercenary marriages.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THOUGHTS DURING A SUNDAY SERMON Send This to Your Congressman EAR SIR: I am president of the Nunicipal Toothpick Company and things have not been going to please me. I rely upon you to help me adjust the universe according to my own ideas. I'm not going to coerce you, of course, merely to have you help me carry out my idea. Please send a copy of the enclosed letter, signed, to everybody you know, including the President, Vice-president, Senators and Congressmen. Yours truly, Jos Werntanxer. To Mearns or Coxcress: I call your attention to the wretched weather we have had lately. Also to the fact that the law of supply and demand is not what it should be, I have spent twice as much as I could afford this month, all due to politics. Unless you can have an assorted lot of first-class rainbows immediately put up, I shall use all my influence against you, no matter what it may cost the coun- try. Big business mustn't be dis- turbed. “T)O you have any differences of opinion in your family?” “Terrible. Why, it couldn't be any worse if we were all members of the Supreme Court.” “T DON'T CARE IF HE IS A MILLIONAIRE! IT’S PERFECTLY OUTRAGEOUS FOR YOU TO THINK OF SPENDING YOUR YOUNG LIFE WITH THAT OLD THING “OH, THAT ISN'T ALL I THINK OF SPENDING, MOTHER DEAR comicbooks.com