Life, 1923-02-08 · page 23 of 36
Life — February 8, 1923 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two satirical cartoons about children's impudence and poor education. **Top cartoon**: A child tells an adult that when asked to pray for "daily bread," they replied they already have bread in the closet—mocking religious piety with literal pragmatism. **Bottom cartoon**: A student boasts about deceiving their teacher by claiming Lincoln never lived in Gettysburg (where the famous address was delivered), getting classmates to laugh. The teacher asked for "Lincoln's Gettysburg address" (meaning the speech location), but the student deliberately misinterpreted it as Lincoln's home address. Both cartoons satirize children's smartass behavior and deflated respect for authority and education. The humor targets both the kids' impertinence and, implicitly, their poor understanding—they're "wise guys" without actual wisdom. This reflects early-20th-century anxieties about youth discipline and educational standards.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
* .nd did you ask the Lord to give you your daily bread?” “Nm! Cause I seen we got a loaf in the clos “Well, I showed up the teacher before the whole class again to-day!” “¥, Wise us “She asked me for Lincoln’s Gettysboig address ‘n’ I ay to tell her he never lived there. Oh! Ya shoulda hear the class laugh then. comicbooks.com