Life, 1923-02-08 · page 15 of 36
Life — February 8, 1923 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The cartoon depicts two office workers at a desk. One asks what the other is reading, receiving the reply "Who's Who?" followed by "Oh! Who's Whose." This appears to be a wordplay joke about the *Social Register*—a directory of socially prominent families in America. The accompanying editorial "A Plea for Ground Hog Day" sarcastically critiques how modern youth have corrupted the holiday into "a veritable orgy," replacing traditional reverence with street celebrations, tin horns, and wine-drinking in the "white-light district." The author laments the decline of dignified customs and calls for restoring the holiday's proper observance. The page reflects early 20th-century anxieties about youth behavior and erosion of genteel traditions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
| D re ir orns. “What are you reading—Who’s Who’?” “No, the Social Register.” “Oh! Who’s Whose.” A Plea for Ground Hog Day (One of Those Common Sense Editorials) ET us observe Ground Hog Day in a manner that 4 is worthy of this great and sacred festival ! ee * n olden times, our forefathers respected Ground Hog y, and celebrated it as a religious festival with all the erence that it deserved. With all due humility and \ spirit of devout thanksgiving, they departed from r simple homes to look for the shadow of that pro- tic little mammal who ventures forth each winter to tell the arrival of the vernal equinox. Now, however, these classic rites have been discard- -as, alas, have so many other noble customs and tra- ons that have been handed down from generation to neration since the days when our ancestors really were ancestors. lhe pleasure-mad youth of the present age have con- ted Ground Hog Day into a veritable orgy. They ‘k upon it as an occasion when they may satisfy their 1 lust for excitement. Do they regard it with due erence? No—they do not! ‘hey dash forth into the streets and blow upon tin They offend casual passers-by with so-called -klers” and streams of serpentine confetti. They in- vale the gilded palaces of the white-light district and epare great feasts, at which wine is consumed openly. They have even been known to eat the very Ground Hog himself. This must stop! We must clean up Ground Hog Day, and restore it to its old-time dignity. It is now a menace to life and liberty. It must be rendered safe and sane. The Day should be observed quietly—by community song-fests, with special attention to those hymns in which the little Ground Hog is glorified. There should be games, with prizes offered to the child who discovers the longest Ground Hog’s shadow. Famous naturalists should give public lectures on the life and habits of the Ground Hog. It should all be a glorious expression of brotherhood toward our dumb friends. Whether we join the League of Nations, or settle the tariff question or the coal problem, or not—there is one matter which requires our immediate and intelligent at- tention: . Ground Hog Day must be saved! R.E.S. To Mary Mary beams, and then the sun comes out, Mary frowns, and all the world’s in doubt ; Mary smiles, and every cloud is tinged with glory, But Mary’s wiles! ah, that’s another story. \ comicbooks.com