Life, 1921-02-17 · page 15 of 34
Life — February 17, 1921 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents two illustrated satirical pieces by W.E. Hill with verses by Roger Burlingame. **"The Umbrella Hound"** (left image) depicts a tall person with children, mocking someone who uses umbrellas despite being very tall—suggesting this person's excessive height makes umbrella-carrying ridiculous and annoying to others. **"The Lady with Bundles"** (right image) shows a woman constantly changing her mind while shopping, becoming "imbued with some insistent change of mood." The satire criticizes women's supposed indecisiveness and shopping habits, arguing such behavior should be confined to a special gallery in the "Hall of Infamy." Both pieces represent typical early 20th-century humor targeting social types—tall men and indecisive women—through gentle, illustrated mockery.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
February 17 THE HALL Drawings by W. E. HILL. MBRELLAS are, | think, at best, A most unmitigated pest And should be carried, if at all, By persons who are very tall, But never by this other sort Which is, as you observe, quite short. The Umbrella Hound Yet almost everywhere I've found This typical umbrella-hound Who grimly twirls it as he goes At just the level of my nose, Who scatters raindrops all about And puts the people’s eyes all out. I'd like to see this person all Umbrella-less within the Hall Of Infamy and when it rained, I'd have him moved outside and chained. OF INFAMY Verses by ROGER BURLINGAME T is a woman’s right, I find, From time to time to change her mind And I concede, in fact, that she Were charming in her vagary, Did she but choose her time and place With less of whim and more of grace. Bundles But I admit a certain pain When, halfway on a crowded train, She suddenly becomes imbued With some insistent change of mood, And, letting all her bundles fall, Determines not to go at all. So in the Hall of Infamy T'll build a special gallery Where she can change her mind all day And not obstruct my right of way. A Million Years TOP and think. The average life of a man is forty-five years. After forty- five years comes a million years. No matter what your ideals, your profession or your desire for wealth may be, you must meet the million years. The big question to ask yourself is this: Will your conduct in the forty-five years warrant a great deal of consideration in the next million? All you will have in the next million years is your personality. By personality is meant character, ideals and the record of good done in the world. Will your personality be worth taking? After all, when the threshold of the million years comes your only passport, your only substance will be life as you have lived it. “ stars,” we have Genius is FTER hearing certain musical and movie concluded that Carlyle was quite wrong. a capacity for inflicting pains. comicbooks.com