Life, 1916-11-23 · page 4 of 40
Life — November 23, 1916 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes a common social type: people who enthusiastically commit to plans or promises but then cancel or back out. The article describes "Backers-Out" as insincere people who mean well initially but lack follow-through, particularly regarding social obligations they later regret. The main illustration shows a well-dressed man leading a group of common people, likely depicting how backers-out manipulate others into situations. The smaller cartoon shows a person in a bird cage, illustrating someone trapped by their own poor decisions. The dialogue examples mock backers-out's excuses—blaming income levels or church membership—to avoid commitments. The satire targets the broader human weakness of making promises without intending to keep them, a timeless social critique.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
888 The Backers-Out HE Backers-Out are a numerous and highly uninfluential class of people who pass their time in consulting their own pleasure, and in backing out of everything they don’t want to get into, and which they have previously promised to stand by. The Backers- Out are always ready to go in. They will promise to do anything after to- morrow. In this they are quite sin- cere. They really mean it. This is also where they consult their own pleasure, because it is so much easier to agree to do something in the dim future—knowing that you can always back out of it—than it is to go through the disagreeable task of peremptory refusal. The Backers-Out understand per- fectly how to back out. They have had a long training at it, and do it with ease and certainty. If you timidly suggest that they will, by backing out, place a lot of people at the utmost in- convenience—if, in fact, you start to rub it in—their indignation is bounded only by the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the North and South Poles. You are implying, of course, that they needn't back out if they don’t want to, which is perfectly true, but they can see no reason why you should not ap- ~~ preciate the sudden and marvellous set of circumstances which has compelled them—and which always does compel them—to back out. The Backers-Out are altogether in- AMIN “1 CAN'T MAKE UP MY MIND WHETHER TO JOIN THE EPISCOPAL OR METHODIST CHURCH.” “WHY NOT JOIN THE METHODIST FIRST UNTIL YOU FEEL YOUR INCOME 1S LARGE ENOUGH TO PERMIT YOU TO ASSOCIATE WITH THE MEMBERS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH ?” vincible people. They may not Out in their jal promises, and apparently be able to fool you so confiding is weak human nature, 1 WISH YOU WOULD PLEASE TELL THE more than two or three times. the chances are you will keep on AUTHORITIES THAT I'M READY TO GIVE You swear this each time. letting them fool you, time without MYSELF UP,’ But so easy are the Backers- end. I'VE JUST STOLEN SOME CHEESE, AND comichooks.cem