Life, 1922-09-21 · page 12 of 36
Life — September 21, 1922 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes corporal punishment in child-rearing. The text describes how "Smith" was "whipped from childhood" for religious and patriotic reasons, then perpetuated this cycle by whipping his own son (Smith II), who in turn whips his son (Smith III). The cartoon depicts a hotel scene where a boy tells his mother he wants a room "without" a bath on their "pleasure trip"—likely a joke about avoiding bathing facilities, reflecting period anxieties about hygiene or modesty. The satire critiques how violent parenting practices become hereditary, passed down through generations as normalized "duty," while the cartoon's domestic humor contrasts the article's serious examination of educational brutality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
> LIFE The Officious Circle A Study in the History of Education MITH had been whipped from childhood. Whipped conscientiously and consistently, for the honor and glory of God, the Republican Party and general princi- ples. But chiefly for the honor and glory of God; for Sinith’s father was religious. If Smith sailed a rock through a window, he was thoroughly lambasted for a vandal and a heretic. If he refrained, he was lambasted for a hypocrite. If anyone else smashed the window, he was lambasted for the philosophic reason that if he wasn’t guilty, he probably deserved it anyhow. Not that he was unpleasant in the sight of his father. His father wrapped around him that strong, silent love which is possible only to the righteous. Every whipping hurt, but Smith must be brought up to the fear of the Lord and the duty of men, if it killed him. If it killed all of them. Yet somehow Smith lived through it—as Smiths seem always to live—and harbored from his boy- hood memories but one great, fervent resolve. “If,” vowed Smith to himself, “in due time and ceremony I ever become a father, I swear by all that’s merciful [ shall never raise my hand against my child!” So Smith II was petted from childhood. Petted con- scientiously and consistently. If he maliciously heaved a cat through a French window, he was fondled. Ii he heaved a French window through a cat, he was fondled. Everywhere, at all times, and under all circumstances it was borne in upon him that he of all people was made to be worshiped and to be given in to, and that stern duty existed not for him in this well-filled world of his. For his father loved him, and remembered his boyhood. But the time came when Smith II was claimed by the world, and though Smith II learned and also lived, he was guided by the bitterness of it all to one great, fer- vent resolve. “If,” vowed Smith II to himself, “in due course of time I become a father, I swear by all that's merciful, I shall instill into my child the fear of God and the duty of men Smith III has been whipped from childhood. Hotel Clerk: With or without bath, madam? The Boy: Get it without, Mother. This is a pleasure trip. comicbooks.com