Life, 1915-04-22 · page 38 of 44
Life — April 22, 1915 — page 38: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes a church movement to modernize hymns by rewriting them in contemporary language. The humor lies in the stated problem: existing hymns appear "silly and meaningless" to ordinary intelligent people when sung in churches and Sunday schools. The satire proposes a formal resolution noting that hymns lack "semblance of human intelligence." The implication is that traditional hymn lyrics—archaic, obscure, or theologically dense—have become incomprehensible to modern congregations. The page is primarily text-based commentary rather than visual cartoon. The "joke" targets both the hymns themselves and the church's bureaucratic response (forming committees, passing resolutions) to address religious irrelevance. It captures early 20th-century tension between traditional religious practice and modernizing sensibilities—suggesting that churches were losing audiences because their music and language felt antiquated and disconnected from contemporary life.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ie a Wg! a My $3.00 Exerciser Reduced to $7] 00 SS semblance of music been found there- Until further notice I will send one complete J %. in; and . ; Wuereas, Congregations and choirs MUSCLE BUILDER OUTFIT” ing al for of musa! armory H ing all forms of musical harmony {9 any reader of Lire upon receipt of $1.09—just onethied the \ therefore be it regular price. I will also include a complete body-building course wed, T ingine cof al of instructions containing 24 selected exercises. The Muscle Builder“, Resolved, That the singing of 3 will meet the requirements of any person—weak or strong—man, *, hymns, as at present constituted, woman er child, Can be used to exercise any muscle in the body, 4 abolished until euch time as the oo A CHEST EXPANDER ALSO tar taste: shall demaiid good mite and with each outfit, I will give an extra handle, without charge, by which 3 belie senile) can the Muscle Builder can i tantly be converted into a most effective words meaning something to be sung Chest Expander to be used for developing the chest and lungs. ‘Take in all churches. advantage of this opportunity while it lasts. Send your order today. : PROF. ANTHONY BARKER, Studio 1600, 110 W. 42d Street, New York | Carried. PE Rees y bras The Status of Hymns | (eae a ) Se OZ: Biro MOVEMENT having been in- | ; eos ae augurated to put hymns upon a 9 - very much excited. The suggestion was then made that : perhaps, in view of the universal dis- | might be well first to rewrite them in 5 ‘¢ such language that they would not ap- . ~ = ccaconndaanti Mccabe a ie pear to an ordinarily intelligent person to be silly and meaningless beyond words, This necessitated, however, a careful reading of all hymns in cold Mood, A call for volunteers to do this meeting wi. no response, the com- mittee in charge were in despair until a new idea was proposed, and the fol- lowing resolution laid before the hous Wuereas, No semblance of human intelligence having been discovered in the hymns of the present day as they are rendered in churches and Sun- day-schools; and Wuereas, Neither has there any The Proper Private School for your children is perhaps the most important choice you have to make. You need the best guide in existence and that undoubtedly you will find every month in the . . “T’ve always had to wait a long time for everything I've wanted,” the boy Educational Directory ¥ answered, “but I always git it, just the same, if I only want it hard enough.” of Harper’s Magazine A Love Story of the North Woods by, fort tntn Harper's Magasin that ou LARRY EVANS find the announcements of more Who wrote “Once to Every Man” private and preparatory schools and begins in the May colleges than in any other publica- § tion—the widest, the best, and the METROPOII most dependable selection. vas Si », all: newsstands—15 cents—or write your name and address in margin below and Wowkd you not like to have sour mail with a quarter (coin or stamps). The Metropolitan will be sent you for $ months Child go to school with children whove beginning with the Mny issue. Metropolitan, 482 Fourth Avenue, New York. parents read Harper's Magazine?