Life, 1916-12-07 · page 62 of 94
Life — December 7, 1916 — page 62: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the idealized Christmas skating party through humorous contrast. The left column lists all the *romantic notions* people have about skating (blazing hearth, comfortable chair, soothing pipe), while the right column reveals the *actual miserable reality* (hard bumps, tricky ice, disappearing friends, blue lips, chattering teeth). The illustration shows Santa delivering gifts—a romanticized winter scene. The bottom photograph depicts a bedroom interior with the caption about a puppy bringing in an old shoe, humorously suggesting domestic chaos undermines holiday perfection. The joke: Christmas activities rarely match their idealized image. What people *imagine* will be cozy and pleasant typically devolves into cold, injury, exhaustion, and needing warming blankets and alcohol ("rock and rye") to recover. The circular framing of Santa reinforces the gap between fantasy and reality. The final suggestion "TO SAVE TROUBLE WHY NOT TRY THIS?" sarcastically endorses staying home by the fire instead.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Christmas Life The Skating Party T' © blazing hearth. The hard bump. The comfortable chair. The friends who race. The soothing pipe. The inability to stop. The satisfaction. The tricky ice. The restless friends. The sudden crack. The suggestion about skating. The disappearing friends. The lack of interest. The rush to the spot. The others who enthuse. The cries for help. The collection of skates. The rescuing act. The abundance of sweaters. The frozen friends. The excuse about feeling The blue lips. “low.” The chattering teeth. The friends who insist The icy clothes. The final resignation. The lack of “ spirits.” The cross-country tramp. The carrying home. The bitter day. The long walk. The biting wind The pitiful: procession. The cheerless lake. The arrival at the house. The cautious beginning The thawed-out friends. The slow progress. The mustard baths. The fancy skater. The many blankets. The awkward spill The “rock and rye.” The “cracking the whip.” The resumed pipe. The tangled mass. The comfortable chair. The trip over the twig The blazing hearth TO SAVE TROUBLE WHY NOT TRY THIS? Puppy (who has brought in old shoe): 1 wonveR WHAT SHE'S FUSSING ABOUT NOW comicbooks.com