Life, 1914-12-03 · page 81 of 92
Life — December 3, 1914 — page 81: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This story satirizes parental hypocrisy. A boy, Harold, reports cynical remarks his barber made—attacking Christmas as commercial, questioning Biblical truth, endorsing Sunday golf over church—claiming these reflect healthier living. Harold's father is horrified, condemning the barber's "dangerous" influence on the innocent boy. He defends Christmas as "the grandest, sweetest song of the ages." The joke's punchline: Harold reveals he got these exact cynical arguments *from his father himself*, during a recent haircut conversation. The father has been unknowingly describing his own worldview back to himself through the barber's mouth. The satire targets adults who preach moral virtue to children while privately expressing skepticism about religion and tradition—the gap between public propriety and private doubt that characterized early 20th-century middle-class life.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
oo rn eg A Pemicious Orator (Continued from page 1046.) er visits the poor, and the shop- girls have to stand up, and nations are fighting each other, and people get what they don’t want and lie about it, and everybody's trying to do ever; body else; and he says lots of things in the Bible are not true, and that it isn't wicked to play golf Sunday, be- cause it makes you healthier than sit- ting in a stuffy church, And the barber says Christmas is just one more time for women to let loose their cursed extravagance— ” “Sh, Harold! Not so loud. Go on and tell me all that cynical barber said.” Harold’s face grew more earnest, yet his eye, unnoticed by his kind father, twinkled with childish enthu- I can’t remember it all,” he , in a discreet whisper. “The barber says Christmas is a gold brick invented by tradesmen, and that women have no souls, anyway, because that’s what Turks and philosophers think.” Harold’s father raised his hands in horror. “Think of inculcating such doc- trines into a young and innocent boy like you!” he cried. “How did he care talk that way? Better keep away from such a dangerous barber. My dear son, take it from me, Christ- mas is the grandest, sweetest song of BOTTLE of Listerine, a toothbrush, a glass of water(and | adentifrice, if you so desire), are the requisites of acor- rect dental toilet. Brush the teeth regularly and rinse them with Listerine, the safe antiseptic. The Listerine per- meates the entire mouth, reaches partsof the teeth thatthe brush cannot touch and so makes |) them clean and aseptic. Many aes of Listerine described In clrcular wrapped arooad the bottle. All Druggists Sell Listerine Demand the Genuine ‘St. Louis, Me. 3 WinelRubbersjoffa\Gentleman Protective foot protection particular for men who are about their appearance. Note this—Vou com depend om the dealer who setts ERVBRSTICK™ to carry the best of everything. the ages—a season when the best that is in us comes out.” “Then it isn’t true?" asked Harold, “Certainly not. What made you think so?” Harold this time smile “Well, you see, father,” he said, “T asked him and he said that's the way you talked to him the other day when you were getting your hair cut.” T. LM. MR. AND MRS, SANTA CLAUS AND THE LITTLE SANTA CLAUSES comicbooks.com