Life, 1920-12-23 · page 5 of 44
Life — December 23, 1920 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two satirical pieces from *Life* magazine (circa early 20th century): **"The Christmas Party"** (top): A poem by Carolyn Wells humorously cataloging the chaos of a Victorian-era Christmas gathering—noisy children, drunk relatives, amateur singers, and general pandemonium. The satire mocks the idealized "perfect Christmas" by listing its actual messy realities. **"Prophetic"** (bottom): A dialogue between characters named Rixon and Dixon discussing poetry and the League of Nations becoming "the football of politics." The joke appears to criticize how international diplomacy gets trivialized into partisan games. A separate illustration shows a child outside in winter, captioned about wishing they'd gone "out the back way this morning"—likely satirizing family gathering chaos. Both pieces satirize contemporary social institutions through humorous exaggeration.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Christmas Parly AS ancient aunty, awfully arrayed. Blonde, babbling buds, in baby-blue brocade. Chubby-cheeked children, chanting Christ- mas cheer. Delicious débutantes, dainty darlings dear. Elegant elders, each enjoying ease. Fortunate footmen, ficecing fine, fat fees. Generous guests, giving gifts grand or gay. High-hanging holly, hinting holiday. Idle idealists, indolent in the ingles. Jocular juveniles, jabbering jolly jingles. Kiddies kowtowing to Kriss Kringle’: Languishing lassies liking lamps’ low-lit. aidens and men, meeting ’mid mistletoe. Noise-making nephews, never noting “Not” Octogenarians, opulent, obese. Popular poets piping pxans of peace. Querulous queens, questing the quaint and queer. Rollicking revelers riding on reindeer. Several singers soaring solos sing. Tiny Tads toot tin trumpets, ting-a-ting. Unbending uncles, unusually urbane. Vivacious veterans, vigorous and vain, Wheedlesome waits, warbling with win- some wights. Xtra Xcitement Xtasy Xcites. Youngsters and youths yell “ Yip-i-addy, yip!” Zanies zigzag in zealous zest and zip! Carolyn Wells, Prophetic IXON: This poet must have been looking far enough into the future to see the Prohibition situation. Dixon: How’s that? Rixon: Well, he has a line which says: “T feel like one who treads alone some banquet hall deserted.” WHEN the League of Nations becomes ORTH: Alexander the Great con- the football of politics it is about quered the world. time to call the game. West: But where was Ireland then? ah Ny yp /n b ae. “MY DEAR, 1 THINK PERHAPS I HAD BETTER CO OUT THE BACK WAY THIS MORNING” comicbooks.com