Life, 1918-04-25 · page 24 of 40
Life — April 25, 1918 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece critiques the changing treatment of dogs among modern pet owners, contrasting past and present. **The cartoon's point:** The article argues that the phrase "leading a dog's life" (meaning hardship) has become obsolete. Modern dogs—particularly among the wealthy—receive luxurious treatment: sleeping in beds, receiving affection from women, occupying car front seats with proprietary attitudes, and receiving public admiration. **The satire:** The piece mocks contemporary dog owners for indulging their pets excessively, elevating dogs' status above that of unattended men who "pant vainly for similar treatment." The humor derives from inverting the traditional hierarchy—dogs now enjoy privileges once reserved for humans or the upper class. **Supporting imagery:** The top cartoon shows a man imprisoned or caged (suggesting constraint), while the bottom illustration, "The Globe-Trotters," depicts people traveling by carriage, possibly implying the leisurely lifestyle dogs now enjoy. This reflects early-20th-century class anxieties about leisure, consumption, and changing social norms around pet ownership and human relationships.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
abAT < The Dog’s Life HE modern tendency among dog- owners is to destroy the potency of the time-honored phrase “to lead a dog’s life”. The present-day dog is apt to receive kisses where the dog of former times received kicks. Instead of being thrust into a mouldy cellar or cast into outer darkness when the family retires, a dog now has an e: cellent chance of being allowed to sleep at the foot of the bed, even though by so doing he cramps his owner's limbs into bow-knots. When he ventures outside the family circle it is not un- usual for him to be embraced by beau- tiful women, while brave but unnoticed men stand in the background and pant vainly for similar treatment. If the dog’s owner possesses an automobile, the dog occupies the front seat by right of eminent domain and assumes a proprictary and condescending attitude toward all others who ride with him People who have been using a dog's life as a synonym for hardships would do well to wake up. THE GLOBE-TROTTERS comicbookssorg