Life — January 20, 1921 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Political Satire on Sunday Observance Laws This page satirizes strict Sabbath observance campaigns of the early 20th century. The top illustration shows the "Ancient and Honorable Society for the Prevention of Sunday Recreation"—a caricatured group of stern religious figures—meeting to enforce joyless Sunday restrictions. The text mocks their resolutions banning dancing, smoking, coffee, and laughter on Sundays. The poem "Be Good!" parodies their austere messaging, warning against "idle chaffing" and threatening imprisonment for those who disobey. The comic strips below show an officer arresting people for Sunday violations: a man with a mischief foot, a woman visiting her napping husband, and another arrest for Sabbath-breaking. The satire criticizes religious fundamentalism and blue laws as oppressive, anti-freedom, and absurdly puritanical.