Life, 1915-12-16 · page 28 of 44
Life — December 16, 1915 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Life magazine page features two distinct satirical pieces: **Main Article**: A fictional interview with the biblical King Solomon in Jerusalem. The narrator expects pompous wisdom but finds Solomon refreshingly humble and humorous. Solomon's key message—that America is merely a temporary "incident" among young races that will pass away while "eternal verities" persist—serves as social commentary. The piece gently mocks American exceptionalism and youthful arrogance through the voice of ancient wisdom. **Bottom Cartoon**: A domestic humor sketch showing a man caught in a theater, claiming to his suspicious wife he was "looking for the main entrance" when actually attending a "moving-picture show." The joke plays on changing social attitudes toward cinema as entertainment—suggesting husbands felt compelled to hide or justify attending films, perhaps viewing them as frivolous or undignified. **Top Illustration**: "Along the Avenue—Cretaceous Period" depicts prehistoric humans alongside a dinosaur, likely commenting on evolutionary theory or primitive social behavior.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Interviews with Dead Celebrities 'HE sombre scenery of Central Pal- estine, with its grim and forbid- ding hills and the solemn severity of their bare outlines was never more im- pressive than upon that evening. It was just after dusk, and, in the distance, Jerusalem, the golden, was dimly shadowed in the short oriental afterglow. I do not know why I ex- pected to discover him there except that the spirits of the great I have been led to believe still prefer, even after centuries of time, to linger fondly in their haunts—ceaselessly living over and over their old battles and vic- tories, I confess to a sense of dread at meeting him, mingled with a certain strain of wholesome awe. The thought of true wisdom is often appalling. To stand face to face with the wisest man in all history; surely, was this not an embarrassing adventure! Judge of my astonishment, there- fore, when a short, stocky man, not unlike Dr. Lyman Abbott, but with a much more ingenuous cast of coun- tenance, suddenly appeared before me. “Well, well!” he exclaimed, “so you are an American, come all this way to interview me: Bless my soul, can it be possible that I am still remem- bered in your country?” His manner was so simple I was immediately disarmed. My fears van- ished as his Santa Claus eyes twinkled at me. Here was a human document. Solomon was the real thing. “By Jove, old fellow,” I cried, “why you are so simple! And you have a sense of humor. Do you know, I dreaded the thought of meeting you; ALONG THE AVENUE—CRETACEOUS PERIOD 1 had an idea that you were a real royal highbrow.” He gazed at me shrewdly, He drew himself together. Then I perceived that it was the great King who spoke. “You must know,” he said, quietly, “that I was a man among men first and that all the inequalities of men were known to me. My simplicity and my humor (if you grant me that) are only phases. Your questions?” “What are your impressions of America?” I asked, incontinently, for there was a subtle rebuke in his man- ner, and, to tell the truth, I was rattled. “America, young man, is an inci- dent. America will pass away. These young races, offshoots from the great human trunk, die out one by one. The eternal verities only persist.” “And what are the eternal veri- ties?” I asked. He smiled. His good humor had returned. “An eternal verity,” he said, “is an Wife (appearing unexpectedly): WILLIAM, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? “ME? OH, I WAS LOOKING FOR THE 1T WAS ONLY A MOVING-PICTURE SHOW.” MAIN ENTRANCE, I—ER—I THOUGHT icbooks.com