Life, 1922-12-07 · page 52 of 80
Life — December 7, 1922 — page 52: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the awkwardness of Christmas card etiquette in early 20th-century America. The article humorously warns readers about the guilt of receiving unexpected holiday cards from forgotten acquaintances, then offers tongue-in-cheek advice: make exhaustive lists of everyone you've ever met, then work backwards—because you'll naturally forget the people most likely to send *you* cards. The cartoon below depicts a poor family approaching a wealthy man, asking him to pray for snow so their new sled will be usable. The irony is social: the children have received a Christmas gift they cannot actually enjoy without weather conditions beyond anyone's control—a gentle critique of gift-giving disconnected from recipients' real circumstances. Both pieces mock the performative, obligatory nature of Christmas rituals among the American middle and upper classes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
VERYONE has been embar- rassed at one time or another by the sudden arrival of unexpected Christmas cards. They emanate from the strangest sources, and always put in an appearance on December 24th— too late to allow time for a hurried answer. They thus add immeasur- ably to the general jollity of this festive occasion, for those upon whom they are inflicted are bound to enter the Yuletide season overwhelmed with that guilty feeling. To be sure, the. recipients of such un-wanted messages can always re- taliate with New Year’s cards; but this, after all, is a feeble response, like a perfunctory afterthought. It doesn’t serve to conceal the self-evi- dent fact that someone has blundered. LYFE: The Season’s Greetings This year, we feel it our duty to warn all our readers that they should do their Christmas mailing early. First of all, you must de- cide which of your friends you will favor with seasonal greetings. Make out a list of all the people that you have ever known in the world—or that any member of your family has ever known—and_ then work backwards along that list. It is always the friends whom you would naturally think of last that are most likely to send you Christ- mas cards. ‘ Having performed this obligation, the next thing is to get your cards —and play them right. This is a mere routine performance. All mes- sages of this nature are fundamen- tally the same in spirit, and it 15 unwise to attempt originality. A particularly appropriate one is entitled, “A Yuletide Thought.” It reads as follows: To you, old pal, Go all good wishes, From the bottom of my heart— For a Merry Christmas, And another, Sweet, tender thoughts Of you I’m keeping— So please accept This Yuletide greeting. These little lines may appear sim- ple and unostentatious at first glance, but that shouldn’t disturb you over- much. After all, it’s the thought that counts. RES. \ “Please, Mister, we got a new sled for Chris'mas. Would ye mind prayin’ for snow?” \ comicbooks.com