Life, 1915-05-27 · page 12 of 44
Life — May 27, 1915 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate pieces of satirical humor: 1. **"Reducing the Overhead Charge"** (left): An aerial photograph showing what appears to be a zeppelin or airship being deflated/shot down, satirizing military or technological excess. 2. **"The Baseball Fans"** (top right): A cartoon mocking baseball spectators' obsession with rules, depicting a man with a megaphone asking children about strike counts—poking fun at fans who focus excessively on technical details rather than enjoying the game. 3. **"Your Vacation and How to Spend It"** (center): Advice advocating domestic tourism and family vacations at home, promoting "See America first"—likely reflecting early 20th-century American isolationism or nationalist sentiment. 4. **"Cost"** (bottom): A joke about a college president's expensive dormitory, with the punchline implying three honorary degrees were given to hide the actual cost. The bottom illustration appears to be a separate, unrelated social comedy sketch.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“REDUCING TIIE OVERHEAD CHARGE” Your Vacation and How to Spend It O somewhere. What you need is a change of scene. No matter how glad you are to get back—go some- where. Stay at home and rest, Edison never takes a vacation, and look at him! A human wonder! Conquer your mind and do it in your own home. Get away from your family. You owe it to them and to yourself. You will return to them revivified in body and soul, Never go anywhere yourself where you cannot take your wife and children. If you get into the habit of leaving them, it will grow upon you. An ocean trip is what you need. You will get a new nervous system out of it See America first. Cost RIEND OF THE COLLEGE PRESIDENT: What did this beautiful dormitory cost you? Coutece Presinent: Three doctor's degrees. One for the man that put up the money and the others for two friends ot his, The Baseball Fans: ory smoke! HOW MANY STRIKES ARE YOUSE ITLED TO IN DAT GAME? Bernal ence comicbooks.com