Life, 1921-03-31 · page 10 of 34
Life — March 31, 1921 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate pieces of humor content: 1. **"Horrible, Quite Horrible!"** - A dialogue-driven story about Mr. Dibble, whose son Horatio reads comic magazines. Mr. Dibble is horrified by the boy's interest in these publications, reflecting contemporary middle-class anxiety about comic books' supposed corrupting influence on children—a major social concern of this era. 2. **"Three Things"** and **"To Be Viewed With Alarm"** - Brief satirical verses about lynching in America, noting the alarming frequency of these incidents (83 in 1919, 61 in 1920) and criticizing newspapers and media for their complicity. 3. **Street Cries cartoon** - A traffic-scene illustration with a dancing girl's caption making a publishing/press-agent joke about the whale story. The page reflects early 20th-century middle-class morality concerns and serious social commentary on racial violence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Homble, Quite Homble! NDER the glow of the library lamp, Mr. Dibble read his favorite comic weekly. On the floor beside him, his little son, Horatio, played with his block: “Papa,” said little Horatio, warning. “Yes, my boy,” said his parent. “What would you do if you had a mil- lion dollars?” “What would I do if I had a million dollars?” asked Mr. Dibble. “I'd pay my income tax.” And he chuckled. That one was almost good enough to print. As he turned his beaming attention upon his son he noticed a condition that had been mak- ing itself apparent for some time. “Why do you build all your houses so that they fall down, Horatio?” he asked. “Because, papa,” answered Horatio, “I'm playing that I'm a contractor.” This was uncanny. Of course, it might be pure coincidence, but Horatio had been showing a tendency lately— “Papa,” continued the offspring, “it hasn't rained for two weeks now.’ “Tt hasn't, Horatio. I agree with you.” “0-00, papa, do you suppose God’s on a strike?” Papa shuddered, but his irrepressible Horatio went blithely on. without Dancing Girl: Sav! MR. JONAH, YOUK STORY ABOUT THE WHALE MADE. 1 WAS WONDERING IF | COULD GET YOU TO BE MY PRES “Papa, did our hen lay Mr. Jones? I heard you tell mamma he was a hard- boiled egg. Papa, owing to the increased cost of everything, I'll have to raise my price of being good to seven cents. S’cuse me for interruptin’ you, papa, but I just set the bedroom curtain on fire. Papa—” Mr. Dibble was seized with a terrible thought. He had been fond of comic magazines—he still was. So was his wife. Half-formed thoughts swarmed his mind. Freud—comic complex—heredity— Was it possible that little Horatio? 2% Horrible! With suspended breath he waited for the next utterance of his off- sp 5 Papa,” asked little Horatio, “ what is an optimist?” It was true! He had feared the worst. And it was the worst. Mr. Dibble’s first- born was a perfect living example of the comic-magazine child. Mr. Dibble swooned. H.W. H. Street Cries RAFFIC COP: Hey, you! Didn't you hear me yelling for you to stop? Auto E1enp: Oh, was that you yelling? I thought that was just somebody I'd run over! LIFE: Three Things (After the Persian.) HREE things 1 cannot stand: \ self-important fool; A wise man bound by rule; A woman in command! Harry Kemp, To Be Viewed With Alarm i is evident that a great crisis confronts us, Lynching is declining. If the de- cline continues at the present rate of de- crease, in the course of a few more years there will be no more lynchings and then how can London newspapermen write any more editorials about America? In 1919 there were 83 lynchings in this country and in 1920 only 61. Well may every patriot ask—What are we going to do about it? With 21 lynchings less every year, by 1925 we shall be utterly lynchless, We may be able to get along withost rum, tobacco, comic operas, vers libre and democrats, but life in America with- out lynchings—Heaven save the mark! Wwe is evidently a losing game when it takes a country forty-two years to pay for what she destroyed in a little more then four. N AWFUL HIT WITH ME. AGENT. comicbooks.com