Life, 1916-11-02 · page 7 of 46
Life — November 2, 1916 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a Thanksgiving 1916 editorial feature. The top illustration shows two diners at a table labeled "LIFE," apparently arguing over the meal—likely satirizing contemporary political disagreement. The main article, "Safety First in Giving Thanks," discusses how Americans should express gratitude to Providence while remaining "perfectly neutral" about distributing benefits. The text addresses tensions between acknowledging divine providence versus material goods, suggesting debates about wealth distribution and charitable obligation. The poem "At Thanksgiving" by Charlotte Becker emphasizes nostalgic home values and family connections. The bottom illustration, "The First Formal Call in Plymouth Colony," appears to be historical satire, showing colonists in period dress interacting at a log cabin, likely commenting on mythologized American origins or Puritan history through comedic exaggeration.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THANKSGIVING 19/6 At Thanksgiving WHEN 1 0 home, the old house stands As if it stretched ont welcome hands— The lamps all send so warm a glow Through fanlight quaint and casement low, By grandsires brought from older lands. And drowsily, content Before the fender’s shit Where faint, familiar spices blow, When I go home. Each threshold lures with sweet commands, And binds me in the magic strands Of tender memories, that grow Like fragrant blossoms, to bestow Love which defies Time's shifting sands, When I go home. Charlotte Becker. Safety First in Giving Thanks 'O be perfectly neutral in the matter of Thanksgiving, the form of Thanksgiving might read thus: We, the American people, known as the party of the first part, thank Providence, known as the party of the second part, for all goods received and to be received inasmuch as they are of benefit to us spiritually, ma- terially, and in all such other ways as accredited legal opinion may deem fit and desirable. But, be it understood that on the failure of the party of the second part, in the estimate of the legal opinion before mentioned, adequately and consistently, to provide these benefits at present and in the future, or on the failure of said benefits to reach our just reckoning of what they should be in total and result, we, the party of the first part, become instantly absolved from all debt of gratitude, and the same hereinbefore ex- pressed shall he considered null and void. THE FIRST FORMAL CALL IN PLYMOUTH COLONY comicbooks.com