Life, 1921-06-02 · page 26 of 44
Life — June 2, 1921 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This *Life* magazine page contains three distinct satirical pieces: **"The Center of the Universe"** mocks someone named Goodson as a tedious bore whose self-promotion seems endless—a personal jab using astronomical imagery. **"Wrist-Watches"** (with Guiterman's poem) satirizes modern industrial society's obsession with time management. The metaphor of watches as "gyves" (shackles) suggests workers are enslaved to punctuality and productivity—a critique of industrial-era time discipline replacing older, leisurely notions of time. **"LIFE's Catechism for Americans"** uses Q&A format to mock wealth inequality and American individualism. It presents a satirical "paradox": if distributed equally, Americans would each receive eighty dollars, yet wealthy individuals refuse redistribution while poor ones reject charity—highlighting the contradiction between theoretical equality and actual class divisions. The bottom cartoon about "Mrs. Medders" remains unclear without additional context, though it appears to joke about her unusual morning routine.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE, “(CX OODSON is an awful bore—always parading his virtues.” “Yes, and they take so long to pass a given point.” Wrist-Watches 8 calmer days, when Father Time was still a genial friend, Within your pocket throbbed the watch, and time was yours to spend. : But now that Time is sterner grown and leisure is a crime, His watch is gyved upon your wrist, poor Slave of Father Time! Arthur Guiterman, LIFE'S Catechism for Americans HERE is enough money in America to distribute over eighty dollars to each individual in it. © Why is this not done? If you have more than eighty dollars, will you please hand over the balance? alns, No, thank you. If you have less than eighty dollars, will you please accept the difference? «Ins, No, thank you. I am an American. lf the man who has less than eighty dollars shoots up the man who has more than eighty dollars, when the smoke has cleared away, will they have more or less in the aggregate? Ans. They are both destroyed. If both get together? alns, More. Moral: { empioyer ) employee What the doesn’t Jearn from the i {employee f employer loss that each inflicts upon the “WVOU'VE a bad cold. What are you taking for it?” “Well, make me an offer.” MRS. MEDDERS HAS BEEN ASKED WHAT SHE USUALLY DOES BETWEEN FIVE AND SIX TI IN THE MORNING comicbooks.com