Life, 1925-05-28 · page 9 of 36
Life — May 28, 1925 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a comic strip narrative about a character named Abner Eads, a farmer whose garden truck business becomes entangled with government seed distribution. The satire centers on government inefficiency: Abner plants seeds the government promised would grow faster, but they grow *too* fast and wildly, creating chaos—tangled plants, rapid overgrowth, and agricultural disaster. The joke satirizes federal agricultural programs, likely referencing early-20th-century government crop initiatives. "Wancharvoght" (a congressman) and references to "the Government will ship to you the fastest seeds that ever grew" mock bureaucratic overconfidence in technological solutions. The strip's humor comes from the gap between government promises and disastrous real-world results for ordinary farmers like Abner.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE - A GI T A T E D A BN E R but Abner grouched to beat the band because he wanted from the soil more vegetation with less toil. could “Aha! potential : ‘Quickseed’ fan!” quoth WancharVoght, his congressman, WHEN Abner Eads lived next to us his garden truck was Fameous “the Government will ship to you the fastest seeds that ever grew!” our hero in greac ges cabbage NR act: Or virtues people _ like to get #in vittles they ‘have up and et. RIK g That plant was .tangled round his neck before old Ab Twelve rods away Ab turned to see that vegetable now a tree. as it busted from the earth. dodge, by héck! an | spil 1. Csee text for the agonizing details. That was clever but he tripped up, seeds broadcasting as he slipped up. ab deholds his first | ("quickseed” peavine. |} Howling Ab — bewailed his bungle from his up- and-coming jungle. ching teeth} prepérato w Ie Pts the seeds 4] tryin They came and Abner planted one, then yelled and took it on the run. jour hero posing beside his great pea-shelling. machine (patent desied for, His peas and spinach, beans and spuds were just the ultimate in fuds and in the patch by his garage, ah, sacr green! ah, quelle cabbage! His truck was always in deman our big sc abner plats ch tryin: limb. A birdie, for a limb, missed wide~it grew too fast for him! night shift of the rescue party, resi Futile hands essayed his salvage ere he lost his spark and valvage. “Well, safety first!” says Ab, and Sowed em, stepping backward as he throwed ’em, giving each a 00d, wide berth Buzzards and exposure bleached him weeks before we ever reached him. comicbooks.com