Life, 1922-05-11 · page 11 of 38
Life — May 11, 1922 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a satirical dialogue between "Ben No. 1" and "Ben No. 2" (likely representing different social perspectives) arguing about stock market investment and financial prudence. Ben No. 1 defends buying stocks; Ben No. 2 warns against risk. Below is an illustration and accompanying poem titled "Poem in the American Manner" by D.P. The cartoon depicts two men in a garden—one threatening the other over bees. The caption reads: "Well, I'm warning you! You keep your dashed infernal bees out of my garden or, by thunder, I'll—I'll shoot them!" The satire likely mocks neighborly disputes, property disputes, or the American tendency toward aggressive confrontation over minor grievances. The poem romanticizes simple rural American life in colloquial dialect, possibly satirizing sentimental Americana or populist sentiment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
eek up. ate, I'm ney * the Marigold Oil Co. * DFE « 9 Bep No. 2 (suspiciously): What for? Bep No. 1: I’m going to buy myself some stock, and make lots of money. Bep No. 2: Nonsense! You don’t know anything about the market. Bep No. 1: I do too, I know a very good stock named It has good prospects and all those other things you spoke about. Besides, I like the name— don’t you? Bep No. 2: Good heavens! Have you gone completely crazy ? Bev No. 1 (beginning to weep): been when I decided to marry you. Bep No. 2: I know I was! I think I must have Ben No, 1: I ask you for money the first time in my life and— Bep No, 2: You can’t have a cent for anything like that. Bey No. 1 (she is weeping in third speed now, with the throttle wide open): You lose money because you know so much about stocks and y-you won’t let me make some so I can have a few of the luxuries I was accustomed to be- fore | married you. Oh, OH, OH- (Benedict’s job has just started. Curtain.) TAAL, Poem in the American Manner DUNNO yer highfalutin’ words, but here’s th’ way it seems When I’m peekin’ out th’ winder o’ my little House o Dreams; I’ve ben lookin’ ‘roun’ this big ol’ world, as bizzy as a hive, An’ I want t’ tell ye, neighbor mine, it’s good t’ be alive. I’ve ben settin’ here, a-thinkin’ hard, an’ say, it seems t’ me That this big ol’ world is jest about as good as it kin be, With its starvin’ little babies, an’ its battles, an’ its strikes, An’ its profiteers, an’ hold-up men—th’ dawggone little tykes !— An’ its hungry men that fought fer us, that nobody employs. An’ I think, “Why, shucks, we’re jest a lot 0’ grown-up little boys!” An’ I settle back, an’ light my pipe, an’ reach fer Mother’s hand, An’ I wouldn’t swap my peace o’ mind fer nothin’ in the land; Fer this world uv ours, that jest was made fer folks like me an’ you Is a purty good ol’ place t’ live—say, neighbor, ain’t it true? Dz P. “Well, I'm warning you! You keep our dashed infernal bees out of my garden or, by thunder, Trru shoot them!” comicbooks.com