Life, 1919-05-08 · page 12 of 46
Life — May 8, 1919 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon:** A domestic scene showing a man and woman at a piano with two other men present. The dialogue reads: "I don't believe we want to see that play, old man. My wife saw it." / "Didn't she like it?" / "Oh, yes." This is a joke about marital dynamics—the husband won't attend because his wife already enjoyed it, suggesting he lacks independent judgment or desires to avoid what his wife has already experienced. **"Baseball and Politics" Article:** The text argues that baseball, like cricket and football, serves a political function in democracy. It claims Bolshevism cannot coexist with baseball, as the sport requires individual decision-making and competition incompatible with communist ideology. The author suggests baseball represents democratic values and would be impossible under Bolshevik rule. **Lower Illustration:** Shows children playing, with a caption about a girl telling her brother a name—context unclear from visible text.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
| “1 DON’T BELIEVE WE WANT TO SEE THAT PLAY, OLD MAN “DIDN'T SHE LIKE IT Baseball and Politics F course the ultimate cure of Bolshevism will be base- ball, but tha deal—food, security, free will lies a great and recrudescence of aspiration. Absolutism and baseball do not go Revolution is a sufficient and without together. exercise baseball. entertainment One of them naturally elimi- nates the other. Baseball seems a nat- ural product of successful democracy The Romans of the Empire had bread and circuses—things provided to ap- pease —but they never had baseball. Ind duced polo, but that has always been and divert the popul A pro- a game of princes and rich people: Spanish civilization produced — bull- fights, which may have derived from Rome; Germany produced Schiitzen- fests. None of them is at all like base- ball or serves a similar political pur- pose. Cricket and football are prod- “OH, YE and’s gradual growth in Cricket is doubtless the political and spiritual ancestor of base- d actual baseball may be e ed to develop in the new England that we hear must be a product of the war. All sorts of governments have had horse-races, of which the democratic variety is the argricultural horse-t Ireland, like England, has hunti riding to hounds—and the Iris! all know, are renowned athletes, It is an excellent political school Besides the lessons it gives in alert- ness and activity of mind and body, it has a discipline not to he escaped, and practices every pla a he time in submission to the on of the umpire. The basic idea of Bolshevism is that every man shall b is own umpire, or at least that ¢: side shall umpire for itself. Baseball could no more exist on Bolshevist principles than representative government can. MY WIFE SAW IT.” When Russia mean that Bolshevism is done for levelops baseball it The papers report experiments baseball by some of the Germat ( Germany, There may be some re in the German revolution, after 2 Little Girl: BEFORE YE START PICK!’ ON MY BROTHER, I WANTA TELL YE lil d NAME IS PERSHING FOCH HAIG JOFYS BROWN !