Life, 1922-10-26 · page 22 of 36
Life — October 26, 1922 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes mail-order art correspondence schools, which were common early-20th-century scams targeting amateur artists. The cartoon depicts a rural dispute over a 90-cent debt, while the main content mocks "E.Z. Art Correspondence School" through fictional letters with a student named Mrs. Twitter. The satire is sharp: the school praises obviously terrible drawings with backhanded compliments ("straight line is almost as perfect as if it had been drawn with a ruler"), then can't distinguish between her barrel and house drawings. They gently mock her sunflower as looking like "an explosion" while repeatedly requesting payment. The joke targets both the fraudulent school's low standards and desperate bill-collecting, and Mrs. Twitter's delusion that she has artistic talent. The correspondence school format itself—promising easy home instruction—was a known racket of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WY Wy i My yi Nis Aocua no+4S. “By the way, Hank, there’s a little bill o’ ninety cents agin you on my books.” “By gum! Abner, you’re the durndest feller to start an argument I ever seen.” Mrs. Twitter and Her Art Course Dear Mapam: We are glad to note by your first drawing that you show decided artistic talent, and we are very confident that by careful application to our course, you will de- velop this talent to its fullest extent. Your straight line is almost as perfect as if it had been drawn with a ruler. Your curves (we mean the ones you drew, of course, Mrs. Twitter) are beautiful. You will probably find the next lessons harder, but we expect equally satisfac- tory results. May we remind you that your second pay- ment will be due next Tuesday? Yours sincerely, E. Z. Art CorresPONDENCE SCHOOL, Dear Mrs, Twitter: The progress you are making is quite satisfactory to us and we wish to thank you for the check sent us. We wish, however, that you would in the future be careful about numbering the drawings, as otherwise it makes it‘ difficult for us to identify them. We are not sure which you intended for the barrel and which for the house called for in Lesson No. 2; however, we wish to congratu- late you. Both show a great deal of individuality and are characterized by their strong lines. In reference to your query as to the best time of day to devote to your drawing, we would say that we hope you will select whatever hours are most convenient to you, Mrs. Twitter. Yours sincerely, E. Z. Art CorRESPONDENCE SCHOOL. Dear Mapam: We have received your drawings of the table, the flower and the banana, and think that you have done very well indeed. Only a very few of our students have cone better, but our school is growing all the time. Just a few minor criticisms are needed. The legs of the table seem to be uneven; only two—not four—should be on its front edge. If you will consult the original you will see that the legs were scattered about more As to the sunflower (or was the picture we sent for you to copy a daisy?) we would suggest that if possible an attempt be made in your next drawing not to give it quite so much the appearance of an explosion. May we remind you, also, that your remittance for this month’s installment has not yet arrived? With best regards for continued success, Yours sincerely, E. Z. Art CorrREsPONDENCE SCHOO! (To be continued next week) comicbooks.com