Life — January 19, 1922 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Real Count" - Sunday School Satire The top cartoon depicts a Sunday school teacher asking a student named Jimmy if he counts to ten before hitting another boy. Jimmy replies that "the referee counts ten after I hit him." The satire mocks the contradiction between Sunday school's moral teaching (restraint, counting to ten before acting) and the boxing culture Jimmy actually experiences. The joke relies on the assumption that children—particularly boys—are more familiar with boxing rules than religious instruction. The "referee counts" reference suggests early 20th-century boxing was culturally prominent enough that even children knew its conventions better than traditional virtue lessons. The remaining page contains three unrelated humorous pieces: "It's the Other Fellow," "Fur Coat Arithmetic," and "The Eternal Question," which are brief satirical quips on conceit, materialism, and courtship.