Life, 1923-12-27 · page 6 of 37
Life — December 27, 1923 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon depicts two men meeting on a rural road—one arriving with a suitcase, the other a local resident. The dialogue establishes the narrative: the traveler has returned home ("you're back again, are ye?"), and he plans to feed his dog before attending to local matters. The satire plays on the American archetype of the "prodigal son"—the wanderer returning from the city. The cartoon likely mocks either the returnee's priorities (feeding his dog before greeting people properly) or satirizes urban attitudes toward rural life and family obligations. The accompanying diary entries from December discuss holiday shopping and social gatherings, suggesting this page addresses seasonal themes of homecoming and social propriety during the Christmas season.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE YANKEE PRODIGAL “OH, YE 'RE BACK AGAIN, ARE Y! Y—YES, FATHER. I'LL ATTEND TO you AFTER I “WELL, GIT INSIDE, VE THIS CRITTER HIS DINNER.” Ces Revs Diary Deceniber Lay late, pondering many things, in especial how it comes that we get so much imported th 4 He ; liquor of all varieties and no Camembert cheese at all. My husband, poor wretch, did come to me before faring down town and ask my opinion about his descent from the waggon at the Bannings’ party to-morrow, his date of release being but four days hence, and when I enjoined him to do so, by all means, his grateful look for words he longed to hear was comick to behold, though I did keep a straight face. Lord! I had liefer see him rolling in the gutter than sitting before the fire twirling his thumbs and weighing the asperities of life, in especial as he takes but moderate quenchers to mitigate them. I consoled him, too, when he sheepishly marked his lack of will power, the quality of unswerving determination being, to my notion, highly overestimated, and those who possess it far less charming than persons with slight weaknesses. Abed till noon, and then up and did on my new December bl i e ‘QIst lack velvet suit and forth to an inn for lun- cheon with Ann Andrews, the play-actress, and Ann did tell me how she had bought a gown for a great sum in one of the smartest establishments and, strolling down the Avenue twenty minutes later, had seen its repro- duction at a quarter the price in the window of an inferior shop, whereupon she had started to walk across town towards the river and knows not what tragic end might have befallen her had. she not met up with Florence Kim- ball, who dragged her into Henri’s for tea. Lord! There should be relief in equity for a woman in such a situation, and why my sex does not look to establishing it, now that we have the franchise, is beyond me....All afternoon at hemming napkins, an occupation I despise, but lightened somewhat this time by the waxed thread Eloise Brown brought me from Chicago. It always sets me a-thinking how much bother there is to life before we start to live it. ..-The Bannings’ revel extremely gay, nor did we quit it till four in the morning. December au oa prints still full of suggestions for 2nd ristmas shoppers, and I do pray that none of my friends have derived help from them, hav- ing done naught to merit such beneficence. Horace has it that the man of upright life need carry no firearms against foes or wild animals, but I doubt if his integrity be proof (Continued on page 31) comicbooks.com