Life, 1919-06-05 · page 33 of 46
Life — June 5, 1919 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical story concerns a fortune teller's prophecy that comes true in an unexpected way. A beggar finds a fortune teller and asks if anyone will notice him. The fortune cryptically replies "if anybody will ever notice me." Years later, the beggar has become wealthy and returns to the same spot, now a thriving commercial area. The fortune teller—now grown large and prosperous—confronts her former client, noting bitterly that he succeeded despite having "no quality save a commercial instinct." **The satire:** The joke is that the fortune teller's own prediction ruined *her*, not him. By becoming famous through his association with her prophecy, she lost her mystique and became merely another commercial commodity. The moral appears to critique how capitalism and commercialism corrupt even spiritual or mysterious things—turning everything into a business opportunity that destroys the very qualities that made it valuable. The page also contains period advertisements (Whitman's Sampler candy, Brad Sport Gloves) typical of Life magazine's revenue model.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
(URS uticurg Saves 3) CTT _ Pots anon it tt domaitateoes tw base Masters om uns the World Away UNE was once lying around y fingered > make a j icon in that spot for a long saw it passed, but they over- Id fellow i cr,” said the fortune, “if notice me.” long with a tin cup ered stool. He sat fortune and* appealed to s strolled by He had true He saw the " he said, turning it foot, “one has no time g stranger, who . and, putting it rm, walked off. ame back to that tin ago ge in lartin Lished boots, -asion be 3 The Pirate usd for Men and Women upon i For Motoring, Riding, Di There's a suggestion of indi Sport Gloves that appeals to the fastidious. R. E. BRADFORD Street, Gloversville, N. Y. yle Slips and mame of local Dealer. A happy message to send or to receive Send the Sampler. It will pay a compliment more gracious than words. Its charm and beauty give a higher pleasure than a mere gift of “candy.” When you are fortunate enough to break the seal on a Sampler, you will soon discover the cause of its popularity. Selections from ten leading Whitman packages. Dain- ties that please the feminine taste. Substantial kinds for a man’s real candy hunger. The Sampler and other Whitman packages are on sale in great variety at the Whitman agencies nearly everywhere— usually the better drug stores. STEPHEN F. WHITMAN & SON, Inc. Philadelphia, U. S. A. Dept. 120, 1459 tlellywood Avenor, Chleage, HL spot and said reminiscently to the for- tune, now grown so big that nobody would have recognized it: “Yes, here is the place where I found you first. “And to think,” said the fortune, “that you, of all men, should have seen me—you, with no quality save a com- mercial instinct.” His owner smiled. “T didn’t see you,” he said. “A poet called my attention to you. Household Words “Mote RI heard the cook say she was going! “Who stuck this chewing gum on my chair?” “Don't ever speak to me again!” “He took my money! He took my money!” “My kitty runned away!” “Keep still!” “There, dear, don’t cry. The pain will all be over in a minute.”