Life, 1916-06-22 · page 42 of 48
Life — June 22, 1916 — page 42: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a satirical poem by Stanley Hofland about the transformation of a rural blacksmith into a wealthy gas station owner—a commentary on early 20th-century economic shifts. The poem traces the evolution: the traditional village smithy now operates a "Garage," profiting handsomely from gasoline sales. The satire highlights how the smith has become a monopolist—he's "got the only gas in town," giving him unfair leverage over customers whose "gas tank's exhausted low." His conscience troubles him despite his "honest sweat." The poem mimics Longfellow's "The Village Blacksmith," invoking that iconic image of honest labor, only to subvert it: instead of noble craftsmanship, the modern version involves exploitative monopoly practices. The "jiggered" (rigged) pump and customers' defeated expressions suggest price manipulation and consumer helplessness. This reflects Progressive Era anxieties about monopolistic business practices and the displacement of traditional trades by industrial capitalism.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Yafiadis Purveyed fo the Houschold of the Khadive. the Imperial gle strlen is Royal Highness Bince ‘of Sa ue Cob rg otha, te ape u Court of; an, elc.etc. the principal dubs and the regiment th LE Tig whe torfolioy hose Americans who have smoked our C ] Vaftadis (Vath fee-ah-dis) Cigarettes abroad may now obtain them in the Uuiled les — because to Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company. who, ienpot themswe have also given thé sole right to manufacture them from our Cairo, formula The doro Nefiais & Ca " = FidMAcen acine HOW TO CHOOSE A tT A Village Monopolist An Evolution U DER a sign that reads .“ Garage The village smithy stands; The smith a wealthy man has grown, From,autos of all brands; The profit he makes on gasoline Smacks of pirates and robber bands. He looks the whole world in the face, For he shows not any man The inside works of his red gas pump; He's jiggered it all he can; His brow is wet with honest sweat, And his conscience is like the tan. Week in, week out, from morn till night, His bellows no longer blow; You can hear him fill from his red gas pump With measure that’s beaten slow ; Like a sexton’s, the face of each cus. tomer Whose gas tank's exhausted low, Pumping — rejoicing — profiting, Onward through life he goes; He's got the only gas in town, And the cars line up in rows; Something attempted, someone done, Has earned a night's repose. Stanley Hofiund, Four handsome red cloth bound volumes, con- taining 35 of the famous sailor-author’s best stories, may now be yours. Morgan Robertson died last year, but his works not dic. These four books are crammed from cove cover with absorbing tales—salt sea tales better than ling’s; pirate stories that rival Treasure Island; fasci ing ‘tales of hypnotism; amazing studies of per stories of men and women in curious situations that lift you out of yourself; stories that will bring hours upon hours of keenest ‘enjoyment; marvelous. § ing, geniusinspired stories. Just the right books your vacation reading. “No lover of real stories can afford to miss + gan Robertson's works.”"—Richard Harding Davis. his stories are bully, his sca foamy and his men have hair +x their chests.”—Booth Tarkington. HOW YOU CAN GET MORGAN ROBERTSON’'S FOUR BOOKS FREE! We will send you the handsome set of Morgan Robert son's Best Works in four volumes, FREE. He will pav for them. We will pay the cost of getting them to yoo We will pay a royalty to Mrs. Morgan Robertson—I(the only income she has is the royalties from the sales of these books)—if you will pay for a subscription to Metro politan and McClure’s, two magazines you should be read ing. You pay less than what the magazines would cost ye if bought at the newsstands. Send only ten cents NOW with the coupon below. If you prefer to pay all at once send only $3.25 with your order. Metropol is ey Lite ex As2'Fourth Ave ; Enter my subscription for Metropolitan 18 mos. and MeCiare’s 18 mos. and send Morgan Robertson's Works In fonr volumes Hage prepaid by you. I enelose 10 cents and agree to seed yon $1.00 8 month for fonr months to pay for my subse ‘The books PRER, (Chango terms of payment t0 6 full Teather binding.) P88 IN MARGIN BELOW comicbooks.com