Life, 1924-12-25 · page 7 of 37
Life — December 25, 1924 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks the chaos of assembling a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. The husband struggles comically to set up a small tree while his wife watches. The cartoon shows two figures outside a building with a sign advertising "23,000 Turkey Dinners to the Poor," establishing a Depression-era setting where charitable giving contrasts with domestic struggles. The humor derives from the mundane disaster: the tree stand doesn't work, wire must substitute for a proper base, and the couple must dismantle the tree to open the door. The title "Tragedy" exaggerates this minor domestic frustration into mock-epic terms. The accompanying cartoon of Mickey Mouse references popular culture. The piece satirizes both working-class Christmas difficulties and the contrast between public charity and private domestic chaos during economically hard times.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Christmas Eve: A Tragedy "THE husband enters briskly, rubbing his hands and remarking: “Well, srie, and how about getting up the ©?” To this his wife replies: “Well, 1 how about it yourself, and don't 1 me ‘dearic’.” This makes it clear t the time is Christmas Eve. The husband then picks up the tree 1 stands it on end, getting resin on s hands. He wipes off the resin with ndkerchief, then leans over and ks up the tree again, while his wi; lects the picces of a vase which it pened to hit in falling, iuspanp: How about putting it on this little table here? Wire: What do you suppose I got that little table feet): Here. Huspanp (he THE FIRST POOR LITTLE FLAKE OF SNOW y meanwhile discovered the stand at his for? Wire: What's here? lussann (meekly): That's what I thought. (//e looks id for the wooden stand.) Where's thea— Wire (turning): Where's the what? Hussan A To THE POOR | Give sonrnn Mickey: 1 DUNNO WOT ‘IS GAME IS, BUT I'M WILLIN’ T’ TAKE A CHANCE ON ONE O° DEM TOIKEY DINNERS, (choking): What I asked where it was. ¢ stands watching him hammer the stand into When he is all through she speaks calmly.) You've got it upside down. Huspanp (after a moment): Well, we'll hold up the tree with wire. I've got lots of wire. (He climbs up and attaches the wire to a nail holding a picture, while his wife supports the tree, Then he at- taches the wire to the tree.) Huspanp: Let go! (They decide that the plaster was weak, or something, The husband is picking out debris from down his neck, while his wife sweeps up broken glass where the picture fell.) Hussanxn (more to himself): Any- how, I've got lots of wire. (The husband now proceeds to work out a complicated serics of supports, from the chandelier to the window, to the piano, to the mantelpiece, to the sofa. The room begins to resemble the inside of a radio; but the Christ- mas tree stands upright at last. He turns triumphantly.) Wire (calmly): Isn't it too bad, dear? You'll have to take the tree all down again to get the door open. (There is a sound of scuffing and heavy breathing, then @ thud as if somebody had fallen. The children turn over and smile in their sleep, under the impression that it is Santa Claus.) Corey Ford. Ex Officio “I WANT a home, but if I ever marry again, my husband must do the housework,” says Peggy Etcetera Joyce. A new groom sweeps clean, comiébooks.com