Life, 1922-05-25 · page 8 of 34
Life — May 25, 1922 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes romantic courtship customs. A man (Bob) has brought his fiancée Ruth to a remote rural location, ostensibly to "comfort" her. The woman appears skeptical of his explanation, implying Bob's motivation is less noble than stated. The title "Slightly Overestimated" suggests Bob has misjudged the situation or overestimated Ruth's need for solitude and comfort. The humor lies in the social understanding that a man bringing a woman to an isolated spot had romantic rather than consoling intentions—a pointed jab at courtship pretense and male duplicity. The accompanying story about Swiss herds and industrial disputes appears unrelated to this cartoon.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Slightly Overestimated “Bob, I certainly wish you every happiness . . . but why did you bring me all the way out here to tell me of your engagement to Ruth?” Bob (a bit piqued): I th-thought you might need to be c-comforted a little. The Internal Swiss Works Bates and I Review the Cisalpine Situation es ELL,” said Bates, rushing up to me in the grill with outstretched bottle, “where have you been?” “Switzerland,” I replied. It was a dirty lie. But most of my friends are forever returning from Russia or Mex- ico or Ireland or Hollywood. So you see how it was. “Well—well—well,” said Bates, dragging me over to a table. “And how is old Switzerland?” “She’s in a bad way,” I said solemnly. that.) “The chamois herders have broken yodelers.”” “No, no,” exclaimed Bates, “not that!” “Yes,” said I, “just that. The hardy sons of—” “Careful!” admonished Bates. “_of nature, having always exercised the free-born pre- rogative of yodeling when, where and how they pleased, resented the demand that they join the Swiss Musicians’ Union formed by the professional yodelers, zither-players and bell ringers.” (They all say with the “Should think they would,” said Bates. “Art for Art's sake.” “The ill-feeling has run so high that the herders are de- serting the herds and secretly mobilizing in the fastnesses of the Alps.” “There's a lot to be said on both sides,” observed Bates whose curse is political economy. “Oh,” said I. “Wait, you haven't heard the worst: The , left to themselves, are rapidly returning to a wild “So am I,” said Bates. “Have some more Scotch.” “With a decreasing number of chamois available, the two foremost industries of Switzerland are threatened—the milk- chocolate business and the manufacture of Swiss cheese.” “Speaking of cheese,” said Bates, “have some more Scotch.” “The cheese interests are paying the old-time Jagerbunds to round up the demoralized herds and are encouraging the lef bet loo cue art! wai comicbooks.com