Life, 1920-11-11 · page 15 of 44
Life — November 11, 1920 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three distinct sections: 1. **"Save the Poe Cottage"** — An editorial appeal to preserve Edgar Allan Poe's Fordham cottage in New York City, arguing it deserves protection as a literary landmark despite lack of funding. 2. **"Misery Loves Company"** — A cartoon depicting a man and child in winter, with the caption suggesting shared hardship. The sentiment reflects Depression-era themes of mutual suffering. 3. **"Are You the Dentist?" / "Yes, Young Man"** — A brief humorous cartoon about a young boy visiting a dentist, using the joke that the boy arrives during inconvenient timing ("I jest come in t-t-o s-s-see whut time it is"). The page reflects early-to-mid 20th century American magazine humor and cultural concerns: preservation of literary history, economic hardship, and gentle domestic comedy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Save the Poe Cottage HE home of Edgar Allan Poe, in Fordham—a suburb of New York Ci is in danger of being destroyed, because sufficient funds for its maintenance are not forthcoming cither from the state or from private subscriptions; and this in spite of the fact that a daily average of one hundred people are inter- ested enough in Poe's memory to visit the humble cottage and see the room where he wrote “The Bells” and dreamed the dreams that “no mortal ever dared to dream before.” Poe has always been the most tragic, the most intense and the most mystifying figure in the history of American litera- ture. He made strange and varying impressions, even on his contemporaries, and the years which have passed since his death have served to dim the beauty of his real character and sur- round him with an aura of unrespectability which does not accord with the popular conception of greatness in this present mundane age of Bryanism and the Anti-Saloon League. In spite of the conflicting opinions about the poet’s person- ality, there can be no room for argument and no question of doubt concerning the quality of the genius which burns with an intense flame in every line of the various poems and stori that constitute his legacy to posterity. “The Raven,” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “Annabel Lee” and “The Haunted Palace” will still be read and re-read long after the names of Poe's critics have descended into ignoble oblivion. It would be a great shame if his home were lost to us. There is a story of suffering and privation and fortitude connected with the place which is only indirectly reflected in his writings. Twenty thousand dollars will save it, and will provide an in- come large enough to maintain it as a museum of historic and literary interest, and as a memorial to an extraordinary man : MISERY LOVES COMPANY of genius. Lire belicves that a great many of its readers will a Ye Sinner: wistt 1 COULD HELP THEE, BROTHER; BUT THEY'VE GOT stk, TOO want to aid in raising this fund for the restoration and preser- and the editors will be glad to receive vation of the Poe cottage and hand over to the proper authorities any sums of money that may be contributed. Query Dr, Nicholas Murray Butler has HAT is a “gentleman recently attempted to define him, and now the French Academy, with great glee, has admitted “gentleman” into the e had official dictionary of France. The French, who long the reputation for being the most polite people on earth, have so far gotten along without “ gentleman.” Now that they have it, will they descend to our common level—always harping on it, ig up to it? A Real Service Ir you want to be sure that letter you write to a man and is not opened beforehand by and never quite livin reaches him personally essary to use scented no some outsider, it is only ne The genius who recently invented this method is entitle Distinguished Service Cross. d to the B' IDES Max Nordau and Sir Rabindranath Tagore—head= liners—the list of speakers announced for the new Town Hall that is being built in New York includes Comte Adelbert “ ARE YOU THE DENTIST ‘” de Chambrun, W. L. George, Princess Cantacuzene, Peng yor MAN,” Chung Chang and Dhan Gopal Mukeiji. We trust that a few “WELL, I JEST COME IN T-TO S-S-SEE WHUT TIME IT Is.” seats in the Town Hall will be reserved for New Yorkers, comicbooks.com