Life, 1922-08-24 · page 5 of 36
Life — August 24, 1922 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a children's poem by R.E.A. about a mischievous uncle who playfully frightens his nephew at bedtime. The poem uses phonetic dialect ("'N'" for "and") to capture colloquial speech. Uncle Jim hides under furniture, makes animal noises ("Woof! woof!"), and generally causes harmless chaos—sneaking around chairs, hiding in bookshelves, and startling the child. The accompanying illustration, titled "The First Hurdle Race," depicts anthropomorphized animals (bears, dogs, and other creatures) in a racing scene with hurdles and clouds of dust. This appears to be a whimsical visualization of childhood play and adventure rather than political satire. The overall page celebrates playful, mischievous behavior as wholesome family entertainment—typical of early 20th-century children's literature in *Life* magazine.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life My Uncle Jim “YJ 7 HEN bed-time comes, I say my prayers, y ‘N’ then—before I go upstairs— W'y Uncle Jim, he says ‘Look out! You better run; they’s bears about!’ Out in th’ hall he goes, ’n’ then Th’ big bear comes out of his den! ‘Woof! woof!’ he says, ’n’ ‘Woof! woof!’ says he, ‘| wonder where that boy can be?’ ‘N’ I'm right under th’ big chair, 'N don’t know! ’N’ I don't care, When he growls at Maw, as though he'd say: ‘Have you seen a little boy ’round this way?’ ’N’ he sniffs around among the chairs, ’N’ under th’ sofa—everywheres! In th’ book-case; on th’ pantry-shelf, *N’ I just sit ’n’ hug myself! ‘N’ then I laugh out loud, ’n’ he, Turns right around ‘n’ starts for me! A-growlin’ away down deep inside, "N’ a-shakin’ his head from side t’ side; *N’ I don’t wait! I scoot for Maw, Th’ scaredest boy that ever you saw! “N’ that'll do!’ Ma says t’ him, ‘N’ that bear’s only my Uncle Jim!” The First Hurdle Race comicbooks.com