Life, 1916-10-19 · page 31 of 42
Life — October 19, 1916 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical story ridicules the concept of absolute honesty in social situations. A woman asks three male friends to assess her age truthfully. The first two flatter her (claiming she looks 20 and 25, respectively). The third, valuing "truth" above all, suggests she won't see thirty—implying she looks much older. The woman rejects him furiously, despite requesting candor, revealing the hypocrisy: people claim to want honesty but actually prefer comforting lies. The final line—the third man wondering what would happen if he'd *actually* told the truth—drives home the joke: brutal honesty destroys friendships. The title "How to End War" suggests this is satirizing peace negotiations or diplomatic discourse circa WWI-era, implying that demanding absolute truth without tact destroys human relations, just as rigid honesty might sabotage peace efforts. The cartoon critiques naive idealism about truth-telling as a social solution.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WOMAN with a birthday in sight spoke earnestly to three Mcn who were her friends. “To-morrow will be another birth- for me,” she said. “I know the freshness of my youth has departed; but I should like to know just how old I appear in the eyes of the world. Tell me, my dear friends, if you were looking on me for the first time, what would be your impressions?” Said the first Man glibly T have known you for several years, and you appear the same as when I first saw you. Your beauty is undimmed; your charm is undiminished. If I did not know otherwise I should say to-mor- row would be your twentieth birth- day.” OOD taste displayed in all the rest of a man’s attire will not overcome the poor impression created by loose, sagging | socks. The Boston Garter keeps them sug and smooth all day. j At Stores Everywhere Silk 50c — Lisle 25¢| TIFFANY & CO. JEWELRY OF PROVEN VALUE AND QUALITY ‘THE TIFFANY BLUE BOOK GIVES PRICES FirtTH AVENUE & 372 STREET New York GEORGE FROST COMPANY, Makers, BOSTON OO ___ = ===__==== Said the second Man more slowly: “T, too, have known you for several years; but it seems to me you have been favored by Time. Your beauty has ripened and deepened, until now you who were once a lovely bud are a lovelier rose in bloom. I should count to-morrow as the beginning of your twenty-fifth year.” “And you?” queried the Woman of the third Man, who had been regard- ing her with clear-eyed frankness. “Between friends there should al- ways be truth,” he replied gravely. “I acknowledge your beauty and your charm; and both have been wonder- fully preserved in a semblance of youth, But you ask for candor, and you shall have it. Looking at you closely, I should not expect you to see thirty—after to-morrow.” The Woman faced the three Men who were her friends, and her cyes were gleaming while her checks’ pink turned to crimson. She pointed an ac- cusing finger. “You have lied,” she said tremu- lously. “And you, also. But I will forgive you both because you lied to please me. But you—" She whirled toward the last speaker—“you are a barbarous egotist! You have wounded me in order to maintain your own reputation for veracity. Truth, indeed! Your honesty offends me. We are no longer friends, Go—and quickly!” “Whew!” exclaimed the third Man as he strode through the outer dark- ness. “I wonder what would have happened to me if I had really told her the truth?” Ella Randall Pearce. comicbooks.com.