Life, 1923-05-31 · page 5 of 37
Life — May 31, 1923 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This poem satirizes nostalgic romanticization of New York's past. The text mocks those who sentimentally recall an idealized "Old New York" from "five-and-twenty years ago," claiming their hearts were "young and light as cork" and their manners superior. The satire targets specific nostalgia: references to Van Wyck (likely Mayor Van Wyck), "formal dance," and "plays of gay romance" evoke a supposedly genteel era. However, Guiterman undercuts this by questioning whether that past was genuinely superior—noting ladies' impractical fashions and the reality that New York was always primarily about commerce and ambition ("Broadway and down again"). The final lines deflate the romance: the "simple town / Of only one or two poor million" was never truly quaint. The illustration shows crowded urban life, supporting the poem's message that nostalgic memory distorts reality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
In Old New York On: hearts were young and light as cork; The town was young,as yet un-Hylan’d; And when we spoke about New York We always meant Manhattan Island. Our ways would now be voted slow And smiled upon in scorn or pity— Those fiveand-twenty years ago When first we hailed the Greater City! Van Wyck was mayor; novel, then, Was Bryan’s silver-tongued haranguing; And up Broadway and down again Unbridled cable-cars were clanging. Our modest maidens—who believes That ladies ever wore such dresses With trailing skirts and bulgy sleeves, And that they never bobbed their tresses? Our cavaliers at formal dance Or banquet scorned the dinner-jacket. We joyed in plays of gay romance With Sothern, Faversham, or Hackett. But how may song of rustic bliss And recollection fond and tender Befit the great Metropolis That blinds the world with golden splendor? Then praise her soaring towers; praise Her teeming five united boroughs, Her tribute-bearing sounds and bays That keels unnumbered plough in furrows! And yet, though dear her bright renown Shall ever be to this civilian, Still dearer was the simple town Of only one or two poor million. Arthur Guiterman. comicbooks.com