Life, 1919-12-04 · page 21 of 80
Life — December 4, 1919 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate satirical pieces: 1. **"Mother, Do You Think It Wise..."** – A Christmas-themed cartoon mocking wartime/Depression-era austerity. A mother worries that hanging a silk stocking signals the family doesn't "need anything," fearing Santa will judge them as ungrateful or wealthy. 2. **"Purely Mental"** – A joke about government control of thought. A wife mentions her husband can't be controlled by edict, but he counters that he already is—his thoughts are consumed by tax anxiety, showing government indirectly controls minds through financial burden. 3. **"Uncommon Carriers"** – Commentary on postal workers refusing to carry packages over 40 pounds. The piece sarcastically suggests recruiting commuters instead, who routinely handle heavier loads (lawn mowers, coal, baby carriages). It criticizes mail carriers as weak or shirking duty. 4. **"Isabel" cartoon** – A boardmember boasts about rejecting three bribes, implying he's virtuous. His wife responds that they need many things anyway—suggesting he could have accepted the corruption without consequences. All pieces mock American attitudes toward duty, government, and morality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
o: THERE! JOMN HAS BEEN HANG- ING AROUND THE JONES'S CELLAR AGAIN! Purely Mental “VY/ELL, there's one thing about it— men's thoughts cannot be con- trolled by government edict.” “Oh, I don’t know. I spend most of “ MOTHER, DO YOU THINK IT WISE TO HANG UP A SILK STOCKING? iaytime thinkiag’about how 1 ami’ go: SANTA MIGHT THINK WE DIDN'T REALLY NEED ANYTHING” * ” ing to pay my taxes. Uncommon Carriers TER carriers think more than forty pounds, except in the business districts, is too much for them to be expected to carry. A resolution urging that bags of mail for delivery be limited to that weight has been passed by an association of postal employees. The Post Office Department would do well to recruit its forces in future among commuters. A mere forty or fifty pounds would be nothing to experts skilled in the handling and long-dis- tance delivery of lawn mowers, snow shovels, coal scuttles, garden hose, ironing boards, clothes dryers, baby carriages and lawn sprink- lers—not to mention an uncanny ability to keep track of a numerous brood of youngsters through the mazes and obstacle races of circus day. “ISABEL, SINCE I HAVE BEEN ON THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN APPROACHED BY THREE DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS AMERICAMtast in war and last in peace. WHO HAVE THE INSOLENCE TO THINK THEY CAN BUY MY VOTE.” “THAT'S SPLENDID, DEAR. THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS WE NEED,” comicbooks.com