Life, 1918-01-31 · page 12 of 40
Life — January 31, 1918 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**The Cartoon ("The Willowbys' Ward"):** The top illustration satirizes upper-class economizing. During what appears to be a period of economic constraint, the wealthy Willowby family has decided to "buy nothing but useful things." The cartoon shows them window-shopping at a store displaying luxuries, unable to resist temptation despite their stated resolution. The humor lies in the gap between their stated austerity and evident desire for frivolous purchases. **The Article ("How I Learned to Walk"):** Tossie Von Cloudcapper's humorous piece describes learning to walk as if it were a remarkable discovery—treating basic human locomotion as novel knowledge. The accompanying sketch shows military boxing instruction, likely satirizing trendy physical culture movements of the era. Both reflect early 20th-century American anxieties about consumer culture and aspirational self-improvement.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WILLOWBYS' WARD. 36 THE WILLOWBYS HAVE DECIDED TO ECONOMIZE THIS YEAR AND BUY NOTHING BUT USEFUL THINGS How I Learned to Walk By Tossie Von Cloudcapper (About 2000 A. D.) TH idea of learning how to walk occurred to me one day when, in an idle moment, I was glancing over an ancient manuscript. It is probably not known to many, but it is a fact that our ancestors walked, and some of them walked very well. The reader will naturally be inclined to ask at this point, What is walking? Walking, in brief, was the primitive form of locomotion In just the same manner as at one very remote period our ancestors climbed about in trees, so in one state of their evolution they walked on the ground. At first, in attempting to walk, one is iriclined to be ter- ribly annoyed; but I can now take five or six steps with case, and without flying into a rage. You should gradually learn to do without any support; then advance one foot before the other, and slide the other up parallel with it; repeat. Believe me when I say that you will experience an entirely new sensation. OME minds are like trunks—packed tight with knowl- edge, no air and plenty of moths, The national army will be given jastruction in boxing —News item,