Life, 1920-02-19 · page 16 of 48
Life — February 19, 1920 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks wealthy self-made men who over-educate their sons into uselessness. Old Vincent, a successful lumber industrialist, vows to give his boy everything he himself lacked. The result: the son receives excessive schooling in impractical subjects (Eurythmics, plaster-cast aesthetics, caged-canary appreciation), European finishing school, and dilettante pursuits like clay modeling and "taro-patch fiddle." The joke's bitter edge: despite all advantages, critics say the boy will never match his father's practical competence. The French phrase "cherchez la femme" (blame the woman) suggests the mother—insisting on the pretentious name "Roderick Douglass Morgan-Vincent"—bears responsibility. The satire targets early-20th-century anxiety about inherited wealth producing soft, impractical heirs. A self-made man's son, overindulged and overeducated in genteel pursuits, becomes inferior to his hardworking father—a common Progressive-era concern about American vigor and character.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
*LIPE® Subub: yes, WE HAVE ONE OF THOSE PORTABLE HOUSE “THEN WHY THE DICKENS DON'T YOU MOVE IT INTO TOWN ? Time IMPLETON has telephoned for a plumber, and at the snd of a couple of hours descends to find that indi- i working in the cellar. Dimeteton (skeptically): How long have you heen a plumber ? “Me, sir? Oh, I'm just learnin’.” A HAPPY MEDIUM—One endorsed by Sir Oliver: His Father's Boots LD VINCENT started life as a journeyman carpenter, but now he owns a lease of lumber companies and a string of mills. When his son was born, Old Vincent made a vow that the boy “was going to have those things that I missed.” For a starter the boy spent several years at a school where he was marked on Posture, Eurythmics and Social Sense. He learned how many miles there are in the sea- coast of Labrador, and how far it is from here to the sun He learned to love Beauty from plaster casts, to love music from phonograph records, to love nature from canned polliwogs and caged canaries, and to love human- kind from statistics on underfeeding. When he was old enough to steer, Old Vincent gave him a light runabout, but he was ashamed to take his a twelve-c nds riding until he had inder sedan. Later he went to the university and learned to tie a tie, shake hands with apparent warmth, and take his liquor without a shudder. He then went abroad to finish his education, In England he learned how to follow the beagles, to pronounce “schedule” and “ con- and to wear checkered waistcoats. In France he learned how to talk to head waiters. Now he is learn- ing to work by renting a duplex studio full of Bakst riot scenes, and taking weekly lessons in clay modeling and playing the taro-patch fiddle. In spite of all these advantages there are carping critics who say that the boy will never be the man his father is Ah, well, cherches la femme, as the boulevards have it Old Vincent's Christian name is Jim, but his wife in- sisted on naming th's boy Roderick Douglass Morgan- Vincent servatory, “SS {oa me FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE! comicbooks.com