Life, 1918-05-09 · page 9 of 40
Life — May 9, 1918 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top sketch titled "That Pilkins" depicts a social gathering where a man plays piano while others listen. The caption suggests Pilkins has achieved success as a novelist and is described as "unbearable"—satirizing how newly successful literary figures become insufferable in high society. The article "The New Craze" below mocks contemporary trends toward amending established institutions. It references historical crazes (dancing plagues, tulip mania) before discussing the current "amendment craze"—likely referencing Progressive Era reforms. The piece sarcastically notes that everything from the Constitution to the Bible is being amended, criticizing how modern society obsessively revises established norms and traditions. The lower illustration shows a domestic scene with the caption "I'm glad my wife ain't here. She'd make me tidy this up"—a joke about household disorder and marital dynamics.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
N IN \\ THAT PILKINS “ HOW MUCH SUCCESS HAS HE HAD AS A NOVELIST?” “WONDERFUL. HE'S SIMPLY UNBEARABLE.” The New Craze HERE was the dancing craze of the Middle Ages, the tulip craze which later swept through Europe, the witch-burning craze, and the bustle and crazy-patch crazes of our youth, To. the world is caught in an amendment craze. Everything is being amended. The Constitution will soon have more amendments than sections. The Kaiser has amended the Ten Commandments. The rising and setting of the sun has been amended by fiat. Billy Sunday has not only amended the Bible, but has rewritten it without the consent of its Author. Where will this craze to add a cubit of perversity and asininity to all things end? The presumptions of men are the comedies of the gods. Olympus must be in gala attire these days—for mankind has never been so tragic and comic at once since the gods catapulted it into existence “Tey me occupation get to be very much alike.” ay that people who are thrown together in the “I'M GLAD MY WIFE AIN'T HERE. THIS UP” SHE'D MAKE ME TIDY comicbooks.com