Life, 1920-02-05 · page 31 of 52
Life — February 5, 1920 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The cartoon depicts men chasing each other chaotically, captioned "How long are you fellows going to keep up this game?" — satirizing American idealists' inability to unite despite shared values. The accompanying text critiques Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck, who declared Americans are a nation of idealists yet couldn't organize themselves. The satire notes Maeterlinck's own idealism was "side-tracked" — likely referring to commercialization of his work (his famous bluebird symbolism had been commercialized with slogans like "It pays to advertise"). The piece sarcastically suggests Maeterlinck should have used a bee instead of a bluebird as his symbol, since American "presidential bees" (appearing to reference politicians or business leaders) already embodied idealism better than his bluebird. The humor targets the gap between America's self-image as idealistic and its chaotic, self-interested actual behavior — with elite European thinkers being naive about American unity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“ HOW LONG ARE YOU FELLOWS GOING TO KEEP UP THIS GAME?” Too Bad speak the same language that we do. derbilt. His bluebird was Manhattan- This is extremely painful, especially ized. It took for its slogan, “It pays when we have been under Mr. Wil- to advertise,” instead of, “ Heaven lies son’s instruction so long. If we ideal- within us.” ists cannot stand together, what, in- M. Maeterlinck would have done deed, is to become of the world? much better if he had taken a bee as Is it not rather remarkable that Maurice Maeterlinck, himself an idealist not to be sneezed at, should have declared that we are a nation of idealists, and yet should not have been M. Maeterlinck, of course, was his trade mark. His bee would have able to make himself understood? Ap- badly handicapped at the start. His consorted with all the presidential hees parently M. Maeterlinck does not idealism was side-tracked by Mrs. Van- that are now floating about, As these bees are each and all of them exponents ] of idealism, Maeterlinck’s bee would have had a run for his money. He would have gathered in much more honey than the bluebird. ECIPE for Making a Boy Scout: Mix well the tenderness, love and charity of mother with the endurance, broad-mindedness and strength of dad; add the integrity of grandfather prized in the family name; season with the protecting kindness of grandmother,and sprinkle well with the purity of a girl PARKE tell me your daugh- ter is remarkably well-educated and accomplished. Lane: I should say so, Why, that girl hasn't lived at home since she was five years old. comicbooks.com