Life, 1916-11-23 · page 9 of 40
Life — November 23, 1916 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Main Cartoon (top):** "Dream of a Gentleman Contemplating Matrimony" depicts a man in bed dreaming of cherubs and marriage, satirizing romantic idealization of marriage. **Middle Cartoon:** Shows a man with "MD" (doctor) on his bag speaking to a woman and children at a doorway. The dialogue parodies early 20th-century public health campaigns: the doctor announces he's come to vaccinate the children, the mother asks if there's a smallpox scare, and he responds they're "getting one up"—meaning they're vaccinating preemptively. This satirizes the shift toward preventative medicine and mandatory vaccination programs becoming normal practice. **Poems Below:** "Manoeuvres" and "Just in Passing" appear to be humorous verse commentary on contemporary topics—military maneuvers and a fur coat anecdote respectively.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
DREAM OF A GENTLEMAN CONTEMPLATING MATRIMONY AWRENCE cried, “Don’t give up the ship!” Manoeuvres “The modern way is to stand by and watch someone A Reminiscence of Plattsburg else give it up,” we explained. V the hike one day, In the neighborhood of Champlain, or Rouse Point, or Beekmantown, or some such place, We were detached as a combat patrol, And sent to rattle a few shots with an enemy, Not “ deliberately hostile” but a bit careless with their cut- lery. We came upon an old log cabin, Where we discovered an imaginary colonel writing an im- aginary despatch with an imaginary pencil Then we caught sight of the enemy. (We could not really see them, but we saw a huckster with the inevitable chocolate almond bars Pass along their lines, Dealing out provender To his spectral customers.) So we opened fire, And as the answering bullets zipped We showed our unconcern By pulling huckleberries where we lay And eating them It was a nice battle, One of the best battles, And afterward We captured a real major on a real horse. . But he had his fingers crossed. Just in Passing “WHY? IS THERE A SMALLPOX SCARE?” “THE dealer said that twelve hundred little chinchillas “No, BUT WE ARE GETTING ONE UP.” had to be killed to make my lovely fur coat.” “ MADAM, I HAVE CALLED TO VACCINATE YOUR CHILDREN.” comicbooks.com