Life, 1917-03-01 · page 40 of 42
Life — March 1, 1917 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two unrelated cartoons and substantial advertising/editorial content. **Top cartoons:** Humor about an aviation pioneer who, accustomed to flying, instinctively braces himself while sledding—a joke about early airplane pilots and the novelty of aviation culture circa 1917. **"Our Pessimist" section:** A cynical philosophical column offering observations on human nature (e.g., "The girl who hasn't the heart to say 'no' usually hasn't the brains to say 'yes'"). This reflects early 20th-century salon-style wit. **Main content:** A letter from a Brigham Manufacturing Company president to "Johnston," discussing whether manufacturers should advertise in *Life* magazine. The president argues that *Life's* criticism of child labor in industry shouldn't concern manufacturers who don't employ children themselves—a defense of selective moral concern that now reads as callous corporate rationalization. The page primarily showcases *Life's* satirical voice through advertising and editorial material rather than traditional political cartoons.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HY, POLLY, WHAT ARE YOU SLIDING oN pe Namely : BE CARE: GREAT scot, MAN! LE Y.YVOU' ALMOST S-S-SENT rR." YES, 1 KEEP FORGETTING THAT 1M NOT IN MY AEROPLANE. Lire, 17 West 31st Street, New York. BACK OF MY sTomAcH, This is an ad- vertisement of something that costs you noth- ing. The latest edi- tion of the Mini- ature Lire, which is just out. ‘or a good two- cent stamp for mailing, and your address. This is a pocket edition of Li printed in col ors, full of the best things of Lire. ADVERTISEMENT — TAKES. Ws SUIT. A CELESTIAL cHotR. Our Pessimist HIS NOTE BOOK HE road to yesterday is paved with regrets; the path of to-morrow, with expectations. It is the way of the present that alone is empty. We never realize the present. The secret of life is to spend one’s days in Utopia and one’s nights in Bo- hemia, Clever people are amusing, providing we agree with them. Once they he- come offensive, they cease to be clever. The girl who hasn't the heart to say “no” usually hasn’t the brains to say “yes.” Fascination in some women is due to acertain charm. In other women it is due to an uncertain charm. If one is serious nowadays every- body laughs, while if one attempts to be humorous no one listens. IN Tue CLOTHING or From One Man to Another Man Presipent’s Orrice, BricnaM Manuracturinc Comrany, Detroit, Mich., 1917. My Dear Jouxsto Since I reached home I have thought often of the corking dinner you gave me the night before I left. Your club is cer- tainly to be congratulated on the ‘46 sherry, and the chef deserves a medal for those stewed mushrooms in the china tureen. Candidly I didn’t care much for the girl-and-music show which you New Yorkers seem to think is the only form of theatrical entertainment we out-of- town folks like. I did enjoy the rabbit and beer we had afterwards, and I have thought a good deal about our talk over the conditions that confront us manufacturers, Now I am going to say something to you which may not pleas¢ you. You will remember how emphatic you were about certain publications that offended you in their treatment of our interests. I re member particularly that you were very bitter about Lire, and said that not one dollar of your money should go to pay for advertising in a paper that was an enemy of manufacturers because it printed pictures holding up to public con demnation manufacturers who employed child labor. Now neither you nor I, Johnston, em- ploy child labor, so that matter doesn’t concern us directly and doesn't reflect on us as manufacturers, or on any other manufacturers in our class. We have troubles of our own, and I don't see why we should worry about the troubles of manufacturers who make their money out of child labor. You have no children, but I have; per- haps that makes the a little more tolerant all bev- erages— full rich flavor, di- rect from the land of comicbooks.com