Life, 1917-09-27 · page 32 of 40
Life — September 27, 1917 — page 32: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct pieces: **The Main Cartoon** depicts a small child crying after an elephant ate her apple when she only meant for it to take a bite. The humor relies on the child's literal interpretation of "take a bite"—the elephant complied by consuming the entire fruit. **"Homes" Poem** by Arthur Guiterman uses animal habitats as metaphor for class inequality. It contrasts creatures with natural "homes" (nests, dens, burrows) against humans divided by wealth: "The Freeman inhabits a Home with a Name" versus "The Slave, but a House with a Number." This references enslaved people identified by number rather than recognized personhood. **"Taking No Chances"** is a racist dialect joke. A Black draftee claims exemption from WWI service by saying no one can care for his wife. Another man immediately volunteers to do so—the "joke" implying sexual predation. This reflects the casual racism of the era, using stereotypical dialect and crude innuendo. The page mixes innocent children's humor with deeply offensive racial content typical of early 20th-century American magazines.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
sessalliadtw “BOO-HOO; HE'S W-WENT AN’ ET MY WHOLE A-A-APPLE, AN’ I ONLY MEANT HIM TO TAKE A B-B-BITE!”” Up went the small hand of Lizzie O'Flaherty. “Well, Lizzie?” from the teacher. “What the Indians live in,” prompt- ly responded Lizzie. TH® class had been learning a poem. On reaching the line, “ There's not a tint that paints the rose,” the teacher asked: “Can anyone tell me what a tint is?” Homes 'HE Cormorant builds on a ledge by the sea; The Coot, on the bank of a runnel; The Woodpecker hunts for a hole in a tree; The Kingfisher digs him a tunnel. The Barn-swallow nests in the haunts of the tame; The Grouse, in the brush and the cumber ; The Country Mouse lives in a Home with a Name; The City Mouse dwells at a Num- ber! The Bumblebee hives in a hole in the ground; The Wasp has a mansion of paper; The Ant may be found in a neat little mound ; The Clothes Moth resides with the draper. The Rattlesnake camps on the Prairie- dog’s claim; The Bat, in the cliff-hollow’s umber ; The Freeman inhabits a Home with a Name; The Slave, but a House with a Num- ber! The fleet-footed Caribou rests in the brake; The Mole, at the end of a furrow; The Beaver abides in a hut on the lake ; The Woodchuck is warm in a bur- row. Remote from the campfire’s flickering flame, The Bear in his cavern may slum- ber; And you're in the hills in a Home with a Name— But I'm on a Street at a Number! Arthur Guiterman, Taking No Chances BIG darky was being registered. “Ah can’t go to wah,” he an- swered in re exemption, “foh they ain’t nobody to look afteh ma wife.” A dapper little undersized colored brother stepped briskly up and in- quired, “ What kind of a lookin’ lady is yoh wife?” comicbook oie