Life, 1914-11-19 · page 31 of 44
Life — November 19, 1914 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon depicts "Hon. Meatcalf," a critic of theatrical productions, caricatured with exaggerated Jewish features (prominent nose). The accompanying letter satirizes his hypocrisy: Meatcalf publicly champions "purity" in plays while privately attending risqué French productions and harboring prejudice against Jewish immigrants and performers. The satire attacks anti-Semitic gatekeeping in early 20th-century American theater. The letter—written in deliberately fractured English to mock immigrant speech—defends Jewish newcomers as legitimate Americans seeking "life, liberty and pursuit of graftiness," while exposing Meatcalf's contradictory standards. Below, "The High Cost of Fighting" is a grim poem about naval warfare, showing expensive warships destroyed by cheaper submarine weaponry—likely commentary on pre-WWI armament escalation and military inefficiency. Both pieces employ satire to critique social hypocrisy and institutional prejudice.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Hon. Meatcalf pronounce mysterious writer you employ to chide And. Carnegie with one foot while admiring Peace with the other? Then observe how your twin critics mishe have on their page! Hon. Jas. Mcat- calf, passionless critic of plays, are so deliciously dissimilar from Hon, Jab Kerfoot, passionate critic of book: Hon. Jab declaim that stuff should be heated in literature and that all should admire Hon. H. G. Wells because he are a matrimonial Watchful Waiter, like Douglas Douglas, tender untrue. great purity for plays” Yet Hon. Meatcalf remain very gentile- manly when speaking of Jewish and pronounce great purity for plays while he faint in his pew cach night to be hold French-speaking family plays en- titled “Slightly Soiled”, Cannot you teach those 2 critics to act more team- work? How could you be so Pank- hurst on one page and so Parkhurst on another? Why should you be so Russian and blame all Jews with their yiddishness? They merely come to America to study 911 philanthropy from Hon. Rockefeller. © surely you could not hate them merely because they inherited Noses and Moses, They emigrate to here in imitation of Swedish, Germans & Irish, in seek for life, liberty and pursuit of graftiness,- America are land of free and nobody feel more free than Jewish in our amidst. Hon, Meatealf sensitive be must not feel too ause N. Y. Jewish reject him from theatres. Surely this religion should be permitted to worship without interruptions from outside. This are merely a short extraction from my list of insults for you Some time when my other wife runs away I shall tell you how your artists do not know how to draw old maids; also how hen-bit hushands does not always wear side-whiskers; also how wicked youngly sport-gentlemen never has pic- tures on their wall showing actoresses in ballot-skirts. Skirts has went out of fashion in wicked circles. Otherwisely I admire y gling journalism which are zebra, quite mulish but bright streaks. Hoping you are the same Yours truly Hasuimeura Toco. (Per Wallace Irwin.) uur strog- like a in The High Cost of Fighting ‘OUR super-dreadnoughts, Sailing o'er the sea, Along Then there were three. ame a submarine— Three super-dreadnoughts, Spick and span and new, One shot from a torpedo— Then there were two. Two. super-dreadnoughts, Cost ten million bones, Struck against a floating mine— Gone to Davy Jones. Fifty million dollars sunk In the deep, deep se While the little submarine Puffs on in her glee. R, B.D. comicbooks.com