Life, 1920-08-12 · page 11 of 44
Life — August 12, 1920 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon:** A jeweler shows an engagement ring to a male customer while female customers crowd around. The caption reveals the joke: when asked what name to engrave on the ring, the customer (Jenkins) wants "Mine" — implying he's buying the ring for himself rather than as an engagement gift, a humorous commentary on male vanity or self-interest. **"Presidential Pleasantries" Section:** This satirizes 19th-century political discourse by presenting harsh insults exchanged between presidential candidates (Washington calling Jefferson a "liar," Adams questioning Clay's worth, Lincoln suggesting Douglas belonged in jail). The point: early American politics involved brutal personal attacks, contrasting with the sanitized "statements" of the satirist's contemporary era. **Bottom Cartoon:** Caption references "Smithers, the Extremist, has joined the Old Clothes Club" — appears to mock an activist or radical who has become conventional.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
[eit i Jenkins has just bought): WHAT NAME SHALL WE Presidential Pleasantnes T is fortunate that newspaper statements are strictly modern features of our political life, or we might have had something like the following recorded in our history (and then again, we might not) : George Washington, leading Federalist candidate for the presidency, issued the following statement from his headquar- ters last night: “I can only say that Mr, Thomas Jefferson is a liar and a faker and not worth the consideration of the decent men of this country.” Mr. John Quincy Adams, when interviewed at his home this morning, said: “What I don't know about Henry Clay isn’t worth knowing. Ask him where he got that diamond ring, and how it happens that the initials on the case of his watch are ‘M. H. L.’ I don't want to say any more just now, but perhaps the police may have a statement to make later in the day.” Abraham Lincoln, when asked about Mr. Douglas's candidacy, said: “Stephen A. Douglas should not be in the White House. He should be in jail.” ON IT, SIR? OME men who have merely done their duty get sore if the crowd doesn't cheer. SMITHERS, THE EXTREMIST, HAS JOINED THE OLD CLOTHES CLUR comicbooks.com