Life, 1924-03-20 · page 27 of 42
Life — March 20, 1924 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes family tax-preparation season, depicting games to distract a father ("Dad") while he struggles with income tax calculations—a source of household frustration. The cartoons show: 1. **"Hide the Thimble" variant**: Family members hide Dad's documents to prevent him from losing papers while doing taxes 2. **Disruption game**: A spouse intentionally interrupts Dad's math with random questions (did you pay the milk bill?) to force recalculations 3. **Family guessing game**: When Dad finally completes his tax return, family members guess forgotten income items he excluded The satire targets both the tedium of tax filing and family dynamics—suggesting taxes are so painful that creating deliberate chaos becomes entertainment. The title "Happy Returns" puns on both tax returns and the holiday phrase, implying this annual domestic chaos is inevitable.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A PLEASING VARIATION OF “HIDE THE THIMBLE” IS AS FOLLOWS: WHEN DAD HAS NEATLY ak RANGED ALL HIS DOCUMENTS, ETC, SEND HIM OUT OF THE kOOM ON S PRETEXT AND HIDE ONE OF THE Most 1 NT. WHEN HE HAS LOCATED IT IT'S GRANDMA’S TURN TO HIDE SOMETHING. THE GAME IS HARM BECAUSE HE WOULD OTHERWISE SPEND. T EVENING MISLAYING MIS PAPERS HIMSEL? CHILDRE HIS INCOM TAX Ot THE on HE EA START A PRETTY 1 COLLECTOR'S OFFICE OR SIX TIMES A DAY WIT » QUESTIONS. AS TH f Is ENTLY PERSIST " IME WHICH WINS HIM TH A REALLY LIVELY GAME FOR TWO WHICH 1S LIKELY TO END IN A RIOT MAY BE PLAYED WHILE THE TAXPAYER IS ADDING UP HIS ALLOWABLE DEDUCTIONS, OR ANY OTHER COLUMN ¢ WHEN HE IS MIDWAY, THE OPPOSING PLAYER SIMPLY ASKS WHETHER HE STOPPED IN THIS MORNING TO PAY THE MILK BILL, OR ELSE STARTS | COUNTING HER KNITTING OUT LOUD. RACH TIME HE HAS TO START IN ALL OVER AGAIN SHE SCORES FIVE; IF HE PERSISTS AND THE RETURN IS EVEN- TUALLY SENT BACK BECAUSE OF INCORRECT FIGUR- ING, SHE IS ENTITLED To THE LIMIT | FIGURES. SOME GOOD CLEAN PUN MAY RFE HAD pan MAL AND SUBNOKMAL THE FAMILY TAKE 7 LITTLE ITEMS OF INCOME HE WOUL HAS PINALLY COME » WIS TAX N A CIRCLE REMEMBERING WISE HAVE FORGOTTEN TO INCLU ' }$1.25 ue wos at MAH Jone; THE $10 1 a VIOUSLY ENTERED UNDER RAL WA SAM BEEMAN INADVERTENTLY PAID MACK | AND SOON. DAD MAY AWARD ANY PRIZE 1 | CONSIDERS SUITABLE. TO THI r ING IN THE HIGHEST TOTAL—OK PLAYERS, JUST AS HAPPENS TO. FFEL cwwvad (< i G x ; ABOUT IT. VALUAMS Ne SS \ HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY comicbooks.com