Life, 1918-05-30 · page 8 of 36
Life — May 30, 1918 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces about social expectations and everyday life: 1. **"Ministers' Sons"** (top): The article notes that ministers' sons appear disproportionately in the Hall of Fame, discussing how ministerial families, though often poor, emphasize education and self-improvement. The accompanying airplane cartoon appears to satirize speed or ambition. 2. **"The Poker Habit"** (middle): A brief joke exchange between Flossie Fullblush and Jack Potts about small feet—likely a flirtatious double entendre typical of the era's humor. 3. **"Business for Him"** (bottom): A domestic scene where a husband complains that "marriage is a failure," while the wife (appearing exasperated) and a cook discuss soup quality. The satire targets disappointed husbands and marital discord among the working/middle classes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Ministers’ Sons R. WILSON is a minister's son. Mr. Hughes the same. So was President Cleveland. A writer to the ning Post points out that one-fifth of the names in the Hall of Fame are ministers’ sons; that in “ Who's Who in America” there are nearly eighteen times as many names of ministers’ sons as the normal proportion calls for, and that in the (British) Dictionary of Na- tional Biography the children of clergy- men number 1,270, of law: $10, of physicians 350. Max and Crystal Eastman are minis- ter’s children. Indeed, it is said that both their parents were ministers, so possibly ministerial derivation may be overdone like anything else. How many ministers’ sons acquire distinction in their fathers’ calling and how many get it in secular pursuits is not disclosed in accessible figures, but apparently it is mostly in secular life that ministers’ sons excel. Why? For one thing, because they have to. Most ministers are poor, and accumu- late very little money. But they can usually educate their children. They bring them up to be self-supporting They have more time than most laymen to train them, and more than average social pull in starting them in business or in professional life. Much is expected of ministers’ fami- lies out of a small provision. To grow up a minister’s son is a discipline. To those who come through it other things come easy, and that is doubtless the main reason why ministers’ sons get on. The chances of birth are formidable in any case, but ambitious souls await- ing incarnation are advised to try to break into ministers’ families. They may not like it, but statistics indicate that it will do them good. The Food Hoarder’s Secret 'ULL many a barrel of flour and of rice The dark, unfathomed cellar spaces bear; Full many a sack of sugar braves the mice, And wastes its attic air. sweetness on the Te sellets WHAT D'VE THINK YE'RE DOIN’? SPEEDIN’ UP AEROPLANE PRODUCTION ? " “cippar! The Poker Habit Feossie FOURFLUSH: I ama great admirer of small feet Jack Ports: So am I. There isn't so much of them to get cold. Business for Him ARRIAGE is a_ failure,” com- plained the disappointed husband You can't make me believe that,” replied the divorce lawyer. “THE CAP'N RAISED THE DEUCE WITH ME TO-DAY. SOUP TASTES LIKE DISHWATER.’” “wor pip you say?” “1 COULDN'T VERY WELL SAY NOTHIN’, COS IT WAS DISHWATER.” SAYS IE, ‘COOK, THIS comicbooks Rainy