Life, 1915-11-04 · page 17 of 56
Life — November 4, 1915 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces targeting early 20th-century American concerns: **"How I Starved on Four Hundred a Year"** mocks both poverty wages and misplaced priorities. The narrator claims to support a family of nine on $400 annually by eating leftovers and buying cheap meat—yet spends $300 on movies and $40 on auto expenses. The satire exposes the contradiction: working families supposedly can "starve" comfortably if they just manage finances, ignoring systemic wage inadequacy. **"Tum and Tum-tum"** references Tumulty (Wilson's secretary) announcing support for women's suffrage in New Jersey, with the cartoon "The Hessians Leave New Jersey" showing a woman threatening a drunkard—likely satirizing anti-suffrage arguments that women voters would be tyrannical. **"The Importunate Stranger"** depicts the U.S. Government as a desperate beggar visiting "Common People," listing absurd complaints (uniforms worn out, "politician's knee," "congressional cancer"). This satirizes government inefficiency and its constant demands on taxpayers during a period of expanding federal programs and increasing taxes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“ETRE How I Starved on Four Hundred a Year I AM a married man, with a wife and seven children, and make four hundred dollars a year. Fortunately, we own the house, so there is no rent to pay. Thinking that others may benefit by my experience in starving, 1 am induced to dictate this to my stenographer. Once a month we have meat. I go to a reliable butcher, and he selects a piece of meat from which all nourishment has been extracted, and it will surprise many of my readers to know how cheap it can be obtained with a little fore- thought. All the other meals we starve on what is left over from the previous ones. Some people have done this occasionally, but we do it all the time, thereby enabling us to spend nearly all of our ‘ncome on useless things. Here is our total expense for the year: Meat - Movies . . 300 Carfare + 30 Auto ... Anyone can starve if they like on four hundred dollars a year. My wife joins me in hoping our example will be a benefit to all. Tum and Tum-tum WHEN Tumulty announced that he would vote for woman suffrage in New Jersey, Washington jumped to the conclusion that his employer would do the same: Otherwise the announcement was received without sagitation. “wrt has he been doing since he graduated from college?” “He has been trying to find out what he learned.” THE HESSIANS LEAVE NEW JERSEY / you eauterte! | * YOU HAVE GEEN DRINKING AGA WHEN “THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES IS MORE DEADLY THAN THE MALE” The Importunate Stranger (OMMON PEOPLE was sitting one day in his modest little mortgaged cottage absorbed in the batting aver- ages and the pictorial series in the daily column section when the Government of the United States shambled up and knocked at the door. “Who are you,” asked the Common People, as he looked up crossly, “and what the devil do you want?” “I want help,” said the Government of the United States, “and God knows I need it. My army and navy uniforms are out at the knees; indeed, they never were any better than hand-me-downs, anyway. I have terrible legal pains up and down my back. I can’t sleep for woman suffrage. I'm afflicted by congressional cancer, and have politician’s knee. I never know where I stand, nobody tells me, and it takes all I make to keep in fake remedies.” “ What are you coming around here bothering me for?” said Common People. “I've got troubles enough of my own. My Ford isn't running well, and the movies this week were punk, and my wife spends most of her time at the department stores. Get out!” ROWN: “I should think doctors would be even more tyrannical and autocratic than they are.” SmitH: “Why so?” Brown: “Because all their dealings are with people who are in no condition to fight back.” comicbooks.com