Life, 1921-11-24 · page 3 of 34
Life — November 24, 1921 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes post-WWI American anxieties about moral decline. The poem presents an adult offering a child increasingly scandalous bedtime stories: divorce, the Ku Klux Klan's violence (including murders), and implied worse content. The child's nurse cuts off the storytelling, calling the child "tiresome." The accompanying illustration shows a man sitting dazed beside a wrecked car—visualizing society's damage from these modern ills. The caption "Voice from the Wreck: Hi! Silas, did you get his number?" sarcastically references insurance claims and normalcy amid chaos. The satire critiques how 1920s American culture exposed children to shocking contemporary problems—Klan violence, divorce scandals, automobile accidents—treating them as casual bedtime conversation while society spiraled into disorder.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The 1922 Baby HALL I tell you a story, Baby dear? I think your bedtime is drawing near. Well then, come sit on your Auntie’s knee And you shall choose what the tale shall be. Shall I tell you about the Jones's di- vorce? It’s awfully good and it’s true of course. Or about Miss Smith’s breach of prom- ise suit Against the man she had threatened to shoot? Or the funny one, how the Ku Klux Klan Made a mistake and killed the wrong man? What! You've heard all those and a lot much worse? You're a tiresome child! Run along to Nurse! George K. Denny. AG Trost Voice from the Wreck: Hi! Silas, did you get his number? comicbooks.com