Life, 1924-12-11 · page 25 of 36
Life — December 11, 1924 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a whimsical Christmas poem by Arthur Guiterman, not political satire. It's a fairy-tale adventure masque about Prince Bobby, who undertakes a quest to retrieve a legendary plum pudding for Princess Eulalia as a Christmas gift. The narrative follows a classic heroic pattern: the young prince sails to a magical realm, battles fantastical creatures (dragons, giants, harpies, griffins), defeats a dragon who wants to eat him, and triumphantly presents the plum pudding to the princess. The accompanying silhouette illustrations depict scenes from the adventure—soldiers, the prince on a rocking horse, magical creatures, and celebratory figures at bottom. This appears to be purely festive entertainment for *Life* magazine's Christmas issue, blending whimsy, adventure, and holiday tradition rather than commenting on contemporary politics or social issues.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE - The Plum Pudding A Christmas Masque “(XO forth!” cried the King to the Princes; “As Christmas undoubtedly comes, The Princess Eulalia evinces A wish for a Pudding of Plums.” There came through the hurly and burly An urchin unnoted by Fame; His hair was remarkably curl: Prince Bobby, I think, was his name. He rode to the shore at a gallop: ") By gnomes of the mountains befriended, He sailed on the turbulent sound; ney He won to the horrible lair— He reached, in his venturesome shallop, A sulphury cavern, defended The realm where the Pudding is found. By Harpies and griffins:—and where, Undaunted by afreets and wizards, Computing the worth of his treasure, A glittering falchion he drew: A dragon was doing his sums, Battalions of goggle-eyed lizards He saw, in a ten-gallon measure, And three-headed giants he slew. A wonderful Pudding of Plums! “Ahat I am fondest of prince-meat!” The dragon audaciously roared. ‘The dragon is shredded to mince-meat Beneath the invincible sword. And so, in his grandest regalia, The Prince, with a ruffle of drums, Presents to the Princess Eulalia The wonderful Pudding of Plums! Arthur Guiterman, comicbooks.com