Life, 1924-06-05 · page 7 of 48
Life — June 5, 1924 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1924 *Life* magazine piece satirizes parental attitudes toward children's education and career prospects. The main article features a mother's monologue boasting about her son's graduation, revealing class anxieties: she brags he won't need "Latin and stuff" or languages, emphasizing practical concerns like marriage prospects and not "wasting" money on college. The bottom cartoon depicts two farm horses discussing a third horse being sent to "agricultural college," with one commenting he's "made the team"—a humorous deflation of educational achievement, suggesting the "college" experience is no more sophisticated than farm life. Together, these pieces mock both pretentious parental expectations and the limited, materialistic reasons many parents valued education in the 1920s.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Proud Parents at the Graduation Ceremonies ] ORE of a dotted Swiss, or even a point d'esprit for? I ‘It is ou had to teach for a living like, I thought. But no, Her Royal Highness What you'll probably do is to get married must have Georgette crépe—four-seventy-nine a yard later.’ I said, ‘ar re w « the use of if you please. Well, I said to her, I said, ‘When I Il of that g graduated from high school,’ I said, ‘I'd have thought 1 was lucky if I could have had a lovely dotted Swiss,’ 1 said ——" never could see the use of them cluttering up their heads with all this Latin and stuff. I never was any hand for those foreign lan anyway—nothing but gabble, sounds te What I language isn’t for all these Bolsheviki and I I the boys 4 thi don't know what-all, why don't ; like Gladys McAnkle now they go back to where they — ' really want is a simply don't know what . I'm going to do with him—ou THE FIRST COMMENCEMENT GOWN girl that kr w, and di after ten o'clock at night nd EVE, OF THE CLASS OF 1, SELECTS A COSTUME Fok Id p t going to dances, and raising the WER GRADUATION FROM THLE GARDEN OF EDEN roof because be hasn't got a dress suit. I just hate to see school finish and have him ast. simply can around all the summer with nothing to do with himself grea boy up there I'm going to tell his father, he'll have to talk to him, he v unning a 1 and try and get some se into— s gy to me, ‘Ga-ga’—he always called me Ga-ga—‘did “—— said to her, ‘What do you want to go to college na Daddy, toc My ‘ Sue setns pore go condoge se: wo) et First Farm Horse: ow's THAT GOOD FOR NOTHIN’ COLT OF YOURS GETTIN’ ON OVER TO THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE Second Farm Horse: Wuy, HAVEN'T YOU HEARD? HE'S MADE THE TEAM comicbooks.com