Life, 1923-10-25 · page 23 of 34
Life — October 25, 1923 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous comic strip about a clever young boy (Skippy) negotiating with his father. The strip's humor derives from the child's precocious logic and manipulation of adult sentimentality. The boy asks his father about accelerating Christmas, then references having saved 42 pennies—equivalent to 42 future Christmases. He uses this number to make his aging father melancholic, commenting on how old the father will be. When the sentimental father offers a half-dollar (50 cents) for the 42 pennies as a reward for being "good," Skippy immediately pivots, asking if the father could convert that into 42 half-dollars—a transparent attempt to multiply his reward. The satire targets both childhood manipulation tactics and paternal sentimentality. It's a gentle family humor piece typical of *Life* magazine's comedy, showing how children exploit parental emotions and generosity through flattery and arithmetic.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
PAPA, TO-MORROW PAPA, IF I PRAYED AND PRAYED TO HAVE MORNING CHRIS’MAS, WOULD GoD Do IT?” “No.” WAS A LITTLE BOY DIDN'T YOU USED TO WAIT FOR CHRIS’MAS?” ANY, MANY TIMES!” “How MANY?” 1T DOESN'T MATTER—MAN KEPEAT THINGS OUTSIDE ANY seanry?”” WHEN YoU COULDN'T. “on, I NEVER TIMES 7 MORE—HOW ence ceco= ed “LOOK, PAPA! HERE'S FORTY-TWO PENNIES I SAVED. THINK OF SEEIN’ AS MANY CHRIS’MASES AS THAT—A FEW MORE’N YOU’LL BE AN OLD MAN.” “LISTEN HERE, YOUNG MAN! DO YOU R BEFORE THE BOYS AS ‘MY OLD MAN’? PAPA, 1 NEVER DID! "ANYBODY ELSE’D GET LEARNED BETTER.” “ou, Skipp) “WELL, IT’S SHORT NOTICE, FOR ONE THING.” “ou, SAY FORTY-TWO! “FORTY-TWO! GEE, FORTY-TWO CHRIS’MASES, THATS A TERRIBLE LOT. IT MUST HAVE BEEN YEARS AND YEARS SINCE YOU WAS A LITTLE ROY. IS IT AWFUL TO BE oLp?”” “SINCE YOU’RE SUCH A GOOD BOY I'LL GIVE You A HALF-DOLLAR FOR THOSE FORTY-TWO PENNIES” “WELL—ALL RIGHT—YOU COULDN’T MAKE THAT FORTY TWO HALF-DOLLARS, COULD YOU NoW, HUI, PAPA?” —No. 28 comicbooks.com