Life, 1917-12-06 · page 54 of 92
Life — December 6, 1917 — page 54: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**The Willowbys' Ward (top image):** A domestic comedy scene where Professor Willowby—who has previously objected to his ward Molly reading "trashy novels"—is caught hypocritically reading one himself. The humor lies in his moral disapproval being exposed as mere prudishness. **Passing Thoughts on Peculiar Matters (bottom left):** A humorous poem mocking regional American dialects, specifically Boston and Jersey City accents. It catalogs pronunciation differences ("cahn't" for "can't," "cah" for "car," "hoid" for "heard"), poking fun at how locals pronounce words distinctly from standard English. **Lieutenant Smith greeting (bottom right):** A satirical scene of an American soldier returning from Europe who greets his fiancée's father in an exaggerated "French style"—likely a pretentious or awkward gesture meant as sophisticated but appearing ridiculous to American eyes. The satire targets post-WWI affectation and cultural pretension among returning soldiers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Christmas Life MR 22 2 Z THE WILLOWBYS' WARD. 7 TRE PROFESSOR HAPPENS 10 PICK UP ONE OF THOSE TRASHY NOVELS WHICH HE HAS SO OFTEN OBJECTED TO MOLLY'S READING Passing Thoughts on Peculiar Matters “T cahn't” T'S strange how people sé In Boston; And how a nephew says “ My abn't” In Boston. | One rides around within a “ cah,” And streets are smeared with sticky “tah” The “RK” is camouflaged as “ah” In Boston. But things as strange are on each lip In Jersey City; The well-known whip becomes a “wip” In Jersey Cit The sparrow wears the title “ The second drink preludes the “ And what they hear, they say they've “hoid” In Jersey City LIEUT, SMITH, HOME FROM EUROPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS, GREETS MIS FIANCEE’S FATHER IN THE FRENCH STYLE comicbooksegray