Life, 1916-12-07 · page 37 of 94
Life — December 7, 1916 — page 37: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece humorously exposes the gap between polite thank-you letters and recipients' true feelings about unwanted Christmas gifts. The page presents two versions of a response letter: **The polite version** graciously thanks the giver, calling the gift "charming," "useful," and "decorative," claiming it was exactly wanted. **The "between the lines" translation** reveals the actual sentiment: the recipients have no idea what the gift does, suspect it's a regifted bridge prize or evidence of terrible taste, find it an eyesore, and have hidden it away. They only promise to display it if the giver announces a visit. The satire targets the social hypocrisy of gift-giving etiquette—the elaborate pretense required to maintain politeness when receiving genuinely useless presents. The decorative border of cherubs and holiday imagery adds visual irony to this cynical commentary on Christmas propriety.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
— a ——}—_ ~h Christmas Life 1017 Gibing and Receiving HOW TO THANK A PERSON FOR ONE OF THOSE MYSTERIOUS CHRISTMAS PRESENTS WHOSE USE IS UNKNOWN TO ANYONE EXCEPT THE GIVER EAR FRIEND: How can we thank you for your kindness in sending us such a charming gift? It is exactly what we want—so useful, and at the same time so decorative. In fact, we were thinking of getting one just like it only a few months ago. The only reason we didn’t was because the house had to be re-shingled and gasolene went up to twenty-seven cents at the same time. How did you ever happen to think of giving it to us? We are look- ing forward to seeing you in the near future and having a nice long talk over old times. Gratefully and affectionately yours, AND HOW THE RECIPIENT OF THE LETTER SHOULD READ BETWEEN THE LINES Tiresome Acguaintance: Your gift arrived, and we haven’t the slightest idea what it’s good for. Whatever led you to believe that we could use such a thing? Was it a left-over bridge prize, or merely an example of your wretched taste? Besides being of no use to anyone, it is an eyesore; so we have hidden it on the top shelf of the china closet. If you contemplate wearying us with a visit, be sure to let us know, so that we can get out your present and expose it in a conspicuous place. Impatiently and scornfully, PAUL GUL, comicbooks.com