Life — November 3, 1921 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Pomo-Logical" Cartoon Analysis This cartoon presents a humorous poem about apples and morality, attributed to Beech Hilton. The illustration shows a woman in a classical style reclining among apples. The poem uses apples as a moral metaphor, referencing the biblical Fall of Man story. It critiques Eve's behavior—she "scanned the fruit denied her" but "never did she make a show / Till the apple was in cider." The joke suggests Eve only felt shame *after* consuming the forbidden fruit, not before the transgression itself. This appears to be satirizing hypocrisy regarding Prohibition-era attitudes toward alcohol and morality. The reference to apples "in cider" (fermented/alcoholic) links the biblical temptation narrative to contemporary debates about drinking and moral standards during the Prohibition period.