Life, 1920-01-01 · page 37 of 48
Life — January 1, 1920 — page 37: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a **Tiffany & Co. luxury advertisement** (center-right) and a **cartoon at the bottom** satirizing American mythology. The cartoon depicts the famous George Washington apocryphal story: young Washington supposedly confessed to cutting down his father's cherry tree with his hatchet, claiming "I cannot tell a lie." The figures show a boy with a hatchet, a felled tree labeled "Prosperity," and a woman (likely representing the nation or virtue) observing. The satire is biting: the cartoon inverts the moral lesson. Rather than praising Washington's honesty, it suggests that destructive action—literally chopping down prosperity—is presented as virtuous honesty. This likely critiques American political figures or policies that claim moral rectitude while causing economic or social harm. The left column contains editorial text celebrating "Personality" as a form of power, contrasting it with empty posturing. This thematic connection suggests the cartoon extends that critique: public figures adopt the *persona* of honesty while committing destructive acts.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“We Have with Us To-Night” (Continued from page 32) Memory,” and “A Fortune in Oil ree thing is Personality; the fin- in the bounty of nature. If you haven't it, you can have everything ke, but it doesn't count. Personality js the mysterious electricity of the hu- , ‘an soul, whose motor drives power, . siiachment and subjugation through IFFANY & Co congeries of men. Personalities are INI. the true kings. They rule by the di- wie right of being themselves, A PEARLS JEWELRY WATCHES CLOCKS SILVERWARE personality never assumes. What he | jsassumes for him, And wherever he ‘there is the head of the table. Now Poisonality is his pseudo- frother. He . Puts on, Struts. He frightens the little children with his stage-mask. And because he fright- q . . . as the children he is the biggest child | SUPREME QUALITY of them all, On entering, he lays down | tis silk hat slowly and deliberately. He strips off his gloves as if they were atandage from a wound, slowly, de- Rerately. Then he opens the conver- sion with an “J,” continues the “1” ito Act II, drags the “I” into the PURCHASES MAY BE MADE BY MAIL qpilogue, and rings down the curtain cit, And when he breezes off—if aything so cumbersome can be said breeze—he leaves you with the im- jon that but for him the entire wandless earth, with all its heredita- = seats and appurtenances, would go j FIFTH AVENUE & 37" STREET emb to pieces and shut up shop. ' 1 yr . jonalities run for office and arc New YORK keted by |: majorities. If you shoold ever visit: Washington—— Sport Gloves arelargelyhand-made. This is Sportire—the cold-weather glove Ha wetting will not ruin. that at EBRADFORD + 12 Burr Street ‘ Croversvitin, New Yore “WHO CUT DOWN THAT TREE?” “ CANNOT TELL A LIE. I DID IT WITH MY LITTLE HATCHET.” comicbooks.com