Life, 1922-03-30 · page 12 of 34
Life — March 30, 1922 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes **Emporia, Kansas** and its apparent prudishness. The illustration shows a figure (likely representing the town or its leadership) covering up legs with clouds—treating them as scandalous rather than artistic. The accompanying verse mocks this censoriousness, referencing **William Allen White** (Emporia's famous newspaper editor) and suggesting the town is hypocritically banning cigarettes while simultaneously suppressing depictions of the human body. The satire argues that prudishly "carping at Pavlowa's limbs" (referencing Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova) is artistically narrow-minded. The joke: Emporia positions itself as morally righteous, yet this selective censorship reveals inconsistent values and provincial attitudes toward art and the human form.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
S I outs! Louc New sce’ its d Sp porti any the r con “My Word!” When Legs Is Art “Legs is legs,’ and Pavlowa should cover them up.” —Dispatch to New York Herald from Emporia, Kan. MPORIA! Emporia! Why won’t you have a heart? Emporia and Kansas and their William Allen White We know that legs “is” always legs, but aren’t they | Are of the nation’s assets, and we know they're always sometimes Art? right; You've put the ban on cigarettes, Emporia, but you But wouldn’t you be broader, and play a nobler part, In carping at Pavlowa’s limbs do what you shouldn’t do. To see that, in the highest sense, Pavlowa’s legs is Art? E.S. V. Z. comicbooks.com