Life, 1923-11-29 · page 7 of 38
Life — November 29, 1923 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page combines a whimsical poem by James J. Montague about a child named Tommy imagining sea horses, with a separate political cartoon below. The cartoon satirizes urban parking enforcement and bureaucracy. It depicts children with a makeshift toy "taxi" (appearing to be a homemade vehicle on wheels) parked under a "NO PARKING HERE" sign, while an adult (likely a traffic officer) approaches. The caption "SIGNS MEAN NOTHING TO THOSE WHO CAN'T READ" suggests commentary on either: illiteracy among the poor/working classes, or the absurdity of strict parking regulations affecting children at play. The cartoon critiques either class divisions or overzealous municipal enforcement of rules in public spaces.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Lie Sea Horses 'F Tommy were a pixie—a tiny water-pixie, And dwelt amid the trailing moss in coral- circled dales, He says that he would wander, Here, there, and over yonder, To catch the wee sea horses, with slim and twining tails He's gazed at them in pictures, in brightly tinted pictures, Their tails wound ‘round the seaweed, in many a misty glade— Enchanting little creatures, With softly shining features, Like little carven chessmen, of cbony or jade. If Tommy could but tame one—could catch and pet and tame one. He'd saddle him and bridle him and take him for a ride, Or hitch him to a shallop. And far away they'd gallop, Among the rainbow dolphins, across the tossing tide. But Tommy’s not a pixie—a tiny water-pixic To ride upon the shining tide, where dolphins dance and gleam, And so in wintry weather, For hours and hours together, Beside the dog-eared picture book he loves to drowse and dream. James J. Montague. SIGNS MEAN NOTHING TO THOSE WHO CAN’T READ comicbooks.com