Life, 1923-11-22 · page 27 of 34
Life — November 22, 1923 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a humorous one-act play script meant for school Thanksgiving performances. The satire mocks how educational institutions sanitize and trivialize American history through theatrical presentations. The play absurdly conflates historical figures (Pocahontas, Captain Smith, Miles Standish, John Alden) with modern entertainments—characters attend movie newsreels, spin roulette wheels, and reference products like Rolls-Royce. The "Spirit of Thanksgiving" character forgets her lines entirely, weeping offstage. The finale reduces American history to abstract allegorical figures (George Washington, Labor, the Lincoln Highway, the Gold Dust Twins) grouped around a flag—reducing meaningful historical meaning to hollow pageantry. The cartoon below (by Farb) shows a young artist's work hung in an unfavorable gallery position, captioning the broader theme: specialization in aeroplanes won't guarantee recognition. This mirrors the script's critique of how institutions reduce complex history to marketable, digestible theatrical entertainment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Meaning of Thanksgiving A Symbolic Play in One Kindly Act "THIS sprightly little farce is especially suitable for pres- entation at the Thanksgiving exercises of any kind of hool—Sunday, public, normal or subnormal. No elaborate costumes are necessary; the girls wear regular evening esses of any material, if it’s velvet, and the Louis XIV iforms of the boys may be hired from a costumer. The stage setting is equally simple, representing a portion fern and rockbound coast, complete with breaking s dashing high; just such a New England landscape as ght be seen from the Mayflower, or any Fall River boat. lhe characters are as follows: Capt. Mites Stanoptsu, U. S. A. Cart. Joun Situ, U. S. B. Lieut. Joun Axpen, U. S.C. PriscILta, their sister. PocaHontas, his aunt. THe Spirit oF THANKSGIVING, her cousin. When the pianist has finished her execution of “The folly Blacksmith,” the curtain will wiggle and then stick. his gives a splendid opportunity to push the Spirit of hanksgiving in front of the footlights. Spirit oF THANKSGIVING: (Silence.) PrompTER (off stage): I am——! Spirit oF THANKSGIVING: Oh, yes. Yam the Sprituv- thanksgivin—uvthanksgivin—I—I—— (Exit weeping.) The curtain has been fixed by now, and it opens, disclos- ng PrisciLya sitting before a spinning wheel. Priscitta: Forty on the red—on the red—forty on the cd. (The wheel stops spinning.) Ah ha, little marble! I certainly do spin a wicked roulette. Enter Mites StanpisH and JoHN ALDEN. Priscitta: Hello, boys! How are you? Mies Stanpisu (speaking with difficulty through his ulse beard): Blime fline! Priscitta: Speak for yourself, John. Joun Atpen: Well, I'm fine too, if it comes to that. Mites StanpisH: They got a swell picture of us landing 1 the news reel, down at the here, now, Palace. How bout going to see it? PriscitLa: Good stuff! We'll be in time for the second how. Get your gun, John. (Johnny gets his gun. Exeunt, singing, “Plymouth Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep.”) Enter Pocanontas and Joun Smit. Pocanontas: No, Captain Smith, I want a man for a husband that does things. Like Walt Raleigh, for instance; there’s a he-man for you. Discovers tobacco, and all you and your brother can do is invent a cough drop. Sorry, but all I can be is a sister to you. Joun Smit: Absolutely, Pocahontas? Pocanontas: Positively, Captain Smith! A dance may be introduced here, and after the encore, individuals perscnifying George Washington, D. C., Labor, the Lincoln Highway, the Rolls-Royce trademark, Music, and the Gold Dust Twins enter and group around the Ameri- can flag in an allegorical tableau. This brings the “enter- . tainment,” and this description of it, to an end just in time, or even a little later than that. A.C. M., Asay, Jr. Young Artist (whose work has been skied): THAT'S WHAT I GET FOR SPECIALIZING IN AEROPLA H’M, comicbooks.com