Life, 1915-11-18 · page 13 of 52
Life — November 18, 1915 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes progressive "Modern School Instruction" on birth control. The cartoon depicts a teacher lecturing children about "mirth control"—suppressing laughter—while the dialogue reveals the absurdity: the teacher argues laughter is "unwigged" (uncivilized), "immoral," and "wicked," promoting a puritanical ideology. The accompanying text mocks this repressive approach, with a student character then describing subscribing to "The Birth Controller, a magazine of suppression." The final joke about the jellyfish's "inconvenience" as a "backbone" suggests the magazine itself (and its ideology) lacks spine. The page satirizes both prudish Victorian attitudes and emerging 1920s movements for sexual education reform, using absurdist humor to mock excessive censorship and moral prohibition.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THAT NEW VEGETABLE Connecticut Lady: Ye LAZY GooD FER NAWTHIN’! THERE WUZ NAWTHIN’ 1’ KEEP YOU FR'M PLANTIN’ AN ACRE OR TWO O° SHRAPNEL; EV’R'BODY ELSE 1S GETTIN’ RICH ON IT Session Modern Schoos Instruction Series. Highly recommended to all students. EACHER: Now, children, our subject this morning is mirth control. Can anybody tell me what the ob- ject of mirth control is? Bricut Boy: To stop people from having fits of laugh- ter. Teacuer: Correct. And why should we not have fits of laughter? Bricut Girt: Because laughter is a God-given faculty. It is unhygienic. It is more than most people can afford. It creates too much unseemly pleasure. It has been de- nounced by several feminists. It is wrong. It is wicked. It is immoral. It keeps deserving people awake nights and it ought to be suppressed. Teacner: Splendid! There was a time when fits of laughter were indulged in by common people with vulgar ideas about God. They thought that God was the author of all things and had a right to do as he pleased. Now we know better, What is the duty of every pupil in this room? Cuass (in chorus): To see that our papas and mamas become members of the National Mirth Control Associa- tion, the annual dues for which are five dollars a year. Teacher: Payable in advance. You mustn't forget that. And is that all? Littte Girt: Please, teacher, we must all subscribe to the Mirth Controller, a magazine of suppression. Teacner: That is correct. The class is dismissed for the day, sé the jellyfish: “What an inconvenience a backbone must be!” comicbooks.com