Life, 1920-12-02 · page 60 of 97
Life — December 2, 1920 — page 60: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks the pretensions and behavior of young people during Christmas Eve when parents leave them unsupervised. The humor targets: **The Setup:** Parents naively allow children to stay up alone on Christmas Eve, believing they'll play innocent games like parchesi. **The Satire:** - **Janice and Bertie**: A teenage couple's unsupervised time together is presented as romantic/potentially compromising, playing on parental anxiety about youth morality - **Grandpa**: Represents worldly, sophisticated men who seduce young women with stories - **Uncle Ed**: Flirts with Janice by requesting a "Christmassy kiss," implying adults exploit the holiday's social conventions for romantic advantage - **Bobbie's "chestnut"**: References tired, recycled stories told to impress (implying dishonesty) **The Point:** Young people (and some adults) use the holiday's relaxed atmosphere and removed parental supervision to pursue romance and tell exaggerated stories—behavior parents would disapprove of if present. The title's subtitle—"You Don't Learn Everything in School in Class"—suggests real education happens through unsupervised social interaction.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Christmas Life Home for the Holidays You Don’t Learn Everything in School in Class Mother thought it would be nice to turn the house over to the It's perfectly all right, of course—Bertie is an children for Christmas Eve. As a special dispensation, they are old, old playmate of Janice’s.. They've known waiting up for Santa Claus while mother and father are off to a each other ever since they were a year old apiece. much older and much more sophisticated affair. It is nice, but it That was fifteen years ago. Bertie's taught won't be so nice if the older affair breaks up earlier than expected, Janice to skate, swim, climb trees and spin tops. Now it's Janice’s turn. And mother thought they had gone to the library to play parchesi. ndpa isn't supposed nture out of the . But after what e told him of the dies of the en- met in New (now back on Broadway, Diew merci!), the old open fire and the crocheted slippers haven't the same appeal. Men of the world, that's what Bobbie and Grandpa are. If they are ever found = * “This is Uncle Ed, Janice. Give him a nice, Christmassy kiss, out—won't Grandpa like a good girl.” Thus spoke Janice’s mother. And Janice be- catch itt lieves that what's worth doing at all—oh, you know the rest of it. As soon as Uncle Ed can tear himself away, he's going to change the walking doll he brought for his little niece into a pair of jade earrings—or an ostrich-feather {an—or possibly both i 5 7 . 4 7 i hy ~ L \ 1 NM j act a¢ v2 \ : ——- Sel o of them went—"™ Bobbie = é = od the boredom of dining en famille |! / A \— o enough. He has never failed to make a hit at school with this particular story Mother and father aren't so sure they haven't heard it before — with misgivings. Janice? She's positive she knows it. And it is very, very mild compared with the one she wants to tell, if Bobbie will ever finish with that old chestnut. comicbooks.com