Life, 1919-04-03 · page 55 of 60
Life — April 3, 1919 — page 55: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a short story titled "Kid Tramps" (left column) alongside advertisements. The narrative describes encountering four orphaned French children during what appears to be a post-WWI period (suggested by references to "American uniforms" and reconstruction). The children attempt to cook a rabbit and dog for food, demonstrating both resourcefulness and desperation. The story's moral commentary—expressed in the final passage—romanticizes the children's "genuine intelligence" and potential "vein of gold," while lamenting that their talents will likely "never be discovered and developed." This reflects early 20th-century attitudes toward poor children and lost human potential. The page's main advertisement promotes Waterman's Ideal Fountain Pen as a tool for solving "reconstruction problems of the world," positioning the pen as essential for serious post-war planning—a sales pitch linking consumer goods to global recovery efforts.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Kid Tramps son them one morning + way out to do a little maissance, There were four “French kids" as the -sitting around a fire They were + were matted sisted for the ican uniform: shoes among them. watched them for a few vunched which ¢ A white rab by tree trunk, for their le orphans en notion that one ath, so they took e fire and icky pup into it, drying with a piece of dirty ill shivered, so kids took the rabbit's skin iree and slipped the dog © dog promptly laid down monet a ne and plan itishelping fe a greatly to solve ihe Sabi ee Te wae teconstructiorL problems of the world. Ready to write instantly, A... anywhere bate L.E.Waterman Co. Miss Mutfett, 191 Broadway + New York. reach fas Chicago « Boston « San Francisco Si back, . just one of the “Brad” Sport Gloves Reda Od for summer comfort. ere are other styles — jually satisfactory — for oth men and women. R. E. BRADFORD cator of "BRAD" Sport Gloves 12 Bare Street Gloversville, N. Y. VERMONT MAPLE SWEETS evidently a one-course meal, consisting entirely of liver smothered in onions, We did not see the dogs and at first thought that the little rascals had car- ried out their threat, until we noticed a short brown tail sticking out of a shirt- front, and two other shirt-bosoms bulging unnaturally, There was genuine intelligence pic- tured in those kids’ faces—and I couldn't help thinking, as we trudged back to camp, of the vein of gold in their breasts, which, in all probability, will never be discovered and developed. VANITY comicbooks.com