Life, 1915-12-02 · page 68 of 100
Life — December 2, 1915 — page 68: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces targeting early 20th-century American social types and pretensions. **"The Art of Wriggling"** defines two classes of people: "wrigglers-out" (those skilled at evading work and responsibilities through excuses) and "wrigglers-in" (self-serving opportunists who manipulate their way into positions). The text mockingly advocates for their "rights," satirizing both the workers themselves and labor-movement rhetoric. **"Evolution of the Christmas Shopper"** (left illustration) shows the progression of holiday shoppers becoming increasingly burdened—a commentary on commercialization of Christmas. **"Receipt for a Southern Golf Resort"** sarcastically instructs wealthy industrialists how to construct an exclusive golf club. It mocks their pretensions by listing essentials: hired Scottish/English/American golfers (each inferior to the last), and the resort's pseudo-refined staff, including a dismissive reference to "New York Hebrews to give home color"—reflecting the period's casual antisemitism and xenophobia among the elite. The caption **"It's an Ill Wind"** (right, showing a person blown away) likely comments on the social upheaval these schemes create.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Christmas Life The Art of Wriggling IGGLING as a fine art ought to be recognized and made to take its proper place. The wrigglers appear to be increasing. They will soon demand recognition. Every wriggler is entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of selfish- ness. He ought not to be obliged to work at his trade more than eight hours a day. He ought to be protected. What, then, is the art of wriggling, and what are wrigglers? Wrigglers, of course, are those who wriggle. Of these there are two kinds, namely, the wrigglers-out and the wrigglers-in. When you have developed a certain amount of skill and cunning in evading disagreeable things, or in- venting excuses, then you are a wriggler-out. When, on the contrary, you become an expert in ingratiating your- self into anything, by getting into which your own ends are served, then by the common consent of mankind you are a wriggler-in. EVOLUTION OF THE CHRISTMAS SHOPPER Receipt for a Southern Golf Resort Fist. dig an artesian well in a pine forest. Then secure a controlling interest in a warm-storage plant and a vegetable-canning factory. It is now necessary to engage the services of a profes- sional golfer to lay out your links. This functionary may be either Scotch, English or American. If he is Scotch you will wish he was English; if he is English you will wish he was American; if he is American you will be so over- awed by his consciousness of his immense superiority to every living thing that you will not dare wish he was any- one else. Having engaged your professional golfer, lead him out to the edge of your pine forest, and, making a graceful gesture over the surrounding landscape, tell him to an eightcen-hole course regardless of expense, even if it costs three hundred and seventy-five or even eighty dollars. You can then begin to send circulars to all the five-hundred- dollar millionaires you know, informing them that after years of urging you have decided to give them a chance to mingle with some of the best people of your native State. Your Southern golf resort, with a few minor details, is now ready for business. These details include a four- hundred-pound head waiter with a maximum palm and a Ol minimum brain expansion, a small sprinkling of genuine ee guaranteed New York Hebrews to give home color, and an excursion-steamer band in evening clothes. “at's AN ILL WiNp—” comicbooks.com