Life, 1916-04-06 · page 51 of 80
Life — April 6, 1916 — page 51: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon:** A social satire on youth manners. A young woman enthusiastically praises a party, while a jaded boy responds with exaggerated complaints about every detail—the music is "punk" (bad), the food mediocre, the dancing clumsy (their "steering gear" references automobiles, a modern joke). The satire targets the affected cynicism and affected world-weariness of young people trying to appear sophisticated. **"The Public Conscience" Essay:** A philosophical critique questioning a Western politician's claim that "the public conscience has been awakened." The author sardonically asks: where exactly is this conscience observable? On Fifth Avenue? Broadway? In churches people don't attend? The piece mocks vague moral pronouncements unsupported by observable evidence, arguing for facts over sentimentality. **"Poor Child!" Joke:** A pun on "fodder" (animal feed) versus "father." Parents complain about the proliferation of commercial baby foods; a child quips that a wise child knows his own "fodder"—mixing the homophone with paternal reference.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Enthusiastic Girl: 1sn’T THIS.JUST THE LOVELIEST PARTY? Blasé Boy: 11'p BE 0. K. IF THE MUSIC WASN'T SO PUNK, 'COS THE GRUB ISN'T BAD, WHAT THERE IS OP IT, AND THE FLOOR'S GOOD ENOUGH IN SPOTS, AND THE DAMES AREN'T SO WORSE, ONLY THEY DANCE AS IF THEIR STEERING GEAR WAS ON THE BLINK. The Public Conscience MINISTER from the West said the other day that “the public conscience has been awakened until now it is aroused.” This is interesting, but what is the source of this gentleman's information? Without in any way denying that the public has a con- science, where does that conscience repose and how can it be observed? Is it observable on Fifth Avenue on any par- ticular day — Easter, perhaps — or at any particular time of day? Is it observable on Broadway either before or after dark? Is it observable on Wall Street or in the slums? In the subway, the elevated or the surface cars? Is it more manifest in New York, Chicago or San Fran- cisco, in the country or in the city, in the newspapers, in the theatre, or at the movies? Or must one seek the public conscience in the churches where the public is not to be found? Let us be governed neither by faith nor by scepti- cism. Let us get at the facts. Poor Child! “wat a lot of baby-foods there are these days!” “Yes, it is a wise child that knows his own fodder imes.” ” these times.’ “WHAT A FOOL I WAS TO GET THAT THING TATTOOED ON comicbooks.com