Life, 1922-06-29 · page 23 of 35
Life — June 29, 1922 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This two-part satire contrasts Patrick Henry's 1775 call for liberty ("Give me liberty or give me death") with a 1922 response from J. Glump of the Anti-Saloon League, who dismisses Henry as a "paid employee of the liquor interests." The joke: The Anti-Prohibition League's leader uses patriotic language to attack someone invoking actual American independence. He frames Henry's liberty speech as a "cheap bluff" to capture "rum element" votes—revealing the absurdity of Prohibition advocates claiming the moral high ground while attacking free speech itself. The cartoon below satirizes modern art pretension: a futurist artist creates a self-portrait ("Me") he admits won't draw well, frames it anyway, and receives an "honorable mention"—mocking how avant-garde work gets praised despite lacking basic competence. Both mock hypocrisy: political zealotry disguised as patriotism, and artistic mediocrity disguised as innovation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE - 21 LIFE’S Title Contest pee the best title to the Maxfield Parrish picture above, Lire will award prizes as follows: First Prize $500.00 Second Prize . - ++ $200.00 Third Prize . . $100.00 lhe Contest will be governed by the following ConpDITIONS: (Contestants are advised to read these conditions care- lly, and to conform to them exactly. Lire cannot dertake to enter into correspondence or to reply to nquiries.) By “best” is understood that title which most cleverly and briefly describes the picture above. he contest is now open and open to everybody, and will close at this office at noon on Tuesday, August Ist, 22, Titles will be judged by three members of Lire’s Edi- vrial Staff, and their decision will be final. Titles may be original, or may be a quotation from ne well-known author, and should not exceed twenty rds each. Contestants may send in more than one title, but not more than ten to a sheet. Should we have duplicates of any of the winning an- ers, the full amount of the prize will be given each ing contestant. The final award will be announced as early as possible after the close of the contest (allowing for completion o! the final reading). Checks will be sent simultaneously with the announcement of the award. The members of Lire’s staff, of course, are not per- mitted to compete. All titles should be addressed to Lire’s Picture Title Contest, 598 Madison Avenue, New York, N. Y. En- velopes should contain nothing but the competing titles. typewritten or very plainly written, using one side of paper only, with the name and address of the sender on each sheet. Then — and Now Virginia, 1775 ATRICK HENRY, well known in Virginia politics, in a stirring address before a mass meeting last eve- ning, called on the citizens to unshackle themselves and assert their independence. “Give me liberty or give me death,” said Mr. Henry in concluding his address. He was enthusiastically applauded. Washington, D. C., 1922 J. GLUMP, chairman of the Wrath Committee of e the Anti-Saloon League, when shown the press dis- patches of the Patrick Henry speech, issued the follow- ing statement this morning: “Friends of the Volstead Act will pay no attention to the Henry utterance. The Anti-Saloon League has heard of this fellow before, and his record is well known to this organization. The Virginia demagogue is simply another paid employee of the liquor interests. His brazen attempt to drag the fair name of liberty into the con- troversy is nothing but a cheap bluff to capture the votes of the rum element. His nauseating statements have been discredited before and this most recent outburst caps the climax. It shows to what extremes he is will- ing to go. The Steering Committee of our league will take steps to place a dry candidate in nomination in Mr. Henry’s district, and right-thinking and patriotic Ameri- cans may be assured they will hear no more from this sordid blatherskite.” “I have 1,” said the futurist artist as he puffed desperately at a cheap cigar, “it won't draw. Just ike me. Haha! It won't draw.” So he put it in a frame, called it “Me” and got an onorable mention in the exhibition comicbooks.com