Life, 1917-04-05 · page 46 of 70
Life — April 5, 1917 — page 46: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical story mocks the anxiety businessmen felt about owing money. Mr. Pindexter, a merchant with a solid reputation, summons his creditors (people and businesses he owes money to) to his office, creating dread among them—creditors are "proverbially timid" and fear bad news. The joke: Pindexter has gathered them merely to *pay them in full*. His unconventional method reveals the absurdity of his own psychological burden. He's been haunted by guilt over debts, even though he always paid regularly. By dramatically assembling creditors and immediately settling accounts, he symbolically purges his anxiety about owing money. The small cartoon below shows "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyphen"—a pacifist split personality, though its connection to the main story is unclear. The page also features a "Great Americans" portrait of Mrs. R. Gideon Gay, famous for theatrical performances.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
590 It Never Fails Mr. Silas Pindexter has called a meeting of his creditors at his of- fice at 4:30 Pp. M. on Friday, March joth. our presence is suggested | as being highly desirable. u HIS card, personally received by forty men and firms with whom Mr. Pindexter had accounts, was read with astonishment. He had always paid his bills—if not promptly, at least regularly. He was a good customer, with a reputation for a certain amount of prosperity. It is needless to remark, however, that all of people or their representatives were on hand. Credi- tors are proverbially timid. At 4:40 Mr. Pindexter entered the r where they were gathered. They made a looking com- pany, sitting around the edge of the Mr. Pindexter smiled, to relieve the tension, these respectable room in chairs. “Good afternoon, ladies and gentle- men,” he said, urbanely. Yes, the: were all there—the well-gowned dress maker, the stolid grocer, the butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker, the tailor, the doctor, the department-store representative, and all the rest. Mr. Pindexter took his seat at a desk in the center of the room. Under his arm he carried a roll of bills. To each bill was pinned a check, “ My friends,” he said, “it is not my purpose to cause you needless appre- hension. I wouldn't harm anyone— least of all a creditor. And so I will THE PACIFIST DR. JEKYLL — AND MR. HYPHEN GREAT AMERICANS MRS. R. GIDEON GAY, FAMOUS FOR HER IMPERSONATION OF EVE AT THE CHARITY TABLEAUX get down to business. Here is your money. Each bill you will find is paid in full by the check attached. Much obliged to you for coming.” He began distributing the checks. A tall man arose. “May I ask, sir, the object of your getting us here on this absurd errand? Of frightening us into the belief that you had had some disaster? Is this a joke?” “Not at all,” replied Mr. Pindexter, with a smile, as he completed the circle by handing over the last check, and returned to his chair. ly proceed- ing may be unconventional, but it is quite simple. For many years of my life I have been worried by the thought of my creditors. When I let my bills run too long you gentlemen have haunted me in the night. I made up my mind that I would get over this comichooks.com