Life, 1919-10-09 · page 43 of 48
Life — October 9, 1919 — page 43: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This editorial piece satirizes the economic plight of Harvard instructors and college professors, who—according to cited figures—earn less than street car conductors, railroad brakemen, and skilled tradesmen (masons, carpenters, riveters). The satire's point: College-educated professionals are so underpaid that they're considering labor strikes like working-class tradesmen do. The text mocks this scenario, suggesting that professors and instructors—who lack "brawn" and possess only "a sprinkling of brain"—could never successfully strike or seek employment elsewhere. It notes some have already been forced to abandon teaching for other fields. The underlying complaint is class-based economic injustice: highly educated workers earning poverty wages while manual laborers prosper. The tone is darkly comedic about the absurdity of intellectuals contemplating union tactics while being structurally unable to execute them. The page also contains period advertisements (Fownes Gloves, Williams Shaving Stick, Tareyton Cigarettes), typical of *Life* magazine's commercial model.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘Owh PAIR Whatever the material—leather silk or fabric; whatever the occasion, you can depend on the fit and style of Fownes f0R MEN. WOMEN & CHILDREN Changing Jobs \T figures indicated that Harvard ss than street car conductors. that they draw less than rail- The condition is not uctors at are fp Ii ad br. fined to Harvard, by emen, any meats s that are accurate but de at instructors, instructors, ass: rs and, in some insta ors in American colleges rsities are paid much le: tick mason like. On sprinkling of brain spenters, riveters, and has to have brawn i rm The other has n and a. sprinkling of fawn, else he could not manage to live s undernourished life and stand the mes of his ill-fed wife and children, Tee street car cond akemen ard other craftsmen have en thinking of utilizi the strike samethod of getting more » railroad money a | ton london Cigarettes Tareyton London Smoking Mixture mple upon request New York | Tobacco Co. Inc., 1786 Broadway, B er Hold Fine as silk! The velvety Williams’ lather Jeaves your face feeling fine as silk. It sends you down to an early breakfast with a merry smile and a sense of complete comfort that starts the day right. You don't really need as thick a mass of lather as the Williams’ stick will give you if you want it. But some morning, just for fun, take a little extratime for working up the lather, and a little additional water, and see how rich and generous the Williams’ lather can be. But every day you get the same quick and soothing results—a shave that leaves no hard feelings. The patented holder-top stick isan added convenience that grows greater the longer [ l ia ITS Stone THE.J.B WILLIAMS CO. GLASTONBURY. CONN 8 for any one. The J. B. WILLIAMS COMPANY Dept. A, Glastonbury, Conn, Holder Top Stick Chere have been instances where their strike. Thus they coul enough money to keep them for me demands were refused, and real strikes Instead of importi future to come, and the colleges and univer resulted. sities wou breakers in. the ii lem of raising their wag cars and trains with ro m oof raising their w men, why not give the instruc glad occasion it would be tors and pro of them have been forced to give up teaching to seek other ficlds, where they might make both ends Doubtless any of them could secure leave of absence long enough to help brakeman announce the stat English Scores pure and a Harva Far Lavy: Ly meet that would fit me Cuerk: So would I, la comicbooks.com