Life, 1921-12-22 · page 26 of 34
Life — December 22, 1921 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon satirizes overprotective parenting advice of the era. Titled "The Object Lesson of the Small Boy," it sarcastically prescribes the *opposite* of what parents should do—eat excessive candy, stay dirty, expose yourself to harsh winter conditions barefoot, exercise violently after meals, avoid dentists and baths, ignore sleep schedules, and seal bedroom windows. The satire targets the genteel, cautious "mollycoddle" parenting philosophy that was gaining traction (the caption's reference to "neighbors" thinking such care "a bit mollycoddle" acknowledges this contemporary debate). By inverting proper health advice into absurd extremes, the author mocks both overindulgent and overly restrictive parenting approaches, suggesting children thrive through hardy, practical neglect rather than fussy protection. The page also contains unrelated literary content: a poem about Holly and Mistletoe, a brief moral fable about family quarrels, and a humor quartette.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WONDER WET ARE VP TO Let’s never mind if some of the neighbors do think it is a bit mollycoddle How to Keep Well The Object Lesson of the Small Boy AT anything and everything in prodigious quantities; especially candy, fresh-baked pastry and. other sweets. Get dirty hands and—if possible—a dirty face at least twice a day. Expose the body to the elements—go barefoot whenever possible, rubberless and hatless in winter; lie in the snow until the clothing is thoroughly soaked. Engage in violent exercise after a heavy meal, such as leapfrog, snowballing and hitching on to fast-moving ve- hicles. Brush the teeth as superficially as possible and put off going to the dentist’s as long as possible. Never take a bath, or—at most—stroke the water with the toes and then wet the towels. Disregard the “early to bed—early to rise” rule as far as is in your power. Be sure to keep the bedroom window well shut on cold nights; pile up a mountain of covering—using the extra pillow for the feet—and get completely under. Shy at medicines. Edmund J. Kiefer. Quartette Tax Corrector (to claimant for exemption) : you have three dependents. Is that all? Appticant: Well, you might add the landlord tically support him. Gittetr: Oldsoak and his physician have quarreled. Terry: Yes, the doctor stopped treating him. You say T prac- Holly and Mistletoe WIN sisters of the Yuletide, born and bred To tender sentiment of song and tale So young and yet so old through ages fled, Your advent we with acclamations hail. Sing ho! the tender Mistletoe so frail; Sing ho! the Holly. But, when all is said, Why is the fragile Mistletoe so pale, Why does her sister Holly blush so red? One bold, one modest, could there be than these Two sisters more unlike? Though both may grow To fair maturity on winter trees, And both with Yuletide spirit overflow, Does Mistress Holly blush for sins she sces Committed by frail Mistress Mistletoe? Sam S. Stinson A Household Fable CERTAIN man seemed utterly unable to keep down the ructions in his own home. He made a resolution that thereafter when a quarrel started he would keep his nose out of it and let it ride. Also he would be very tol- erant and patient toward the quarrelers. He held this thought until he began having a kindly and forbearing feel- ing toward every member of his family. Having cultivated this mental attitude he was very anx- ious to show it off, so he kept smiling pleasantly to himself and waiting for trouble to break loose. But none broke. Whereupon he said to himself: “Odd! I must have been starting most of those dis- turbances myself!” Give and Take Burglar: Guess I'll wait till he gets through. Do a abomi Franc “Al glorio Henr: of s from one W answe we patric You And t abor the And agin busin Cap Neb. - a sin Is th Weil, in N Omal about ever look comicbooks.com