Life, 1925-11-19 · page 10 of 40
Life — November 19, 1925 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes college football nostalgia through an "Old Varsity Man" addressing a football player wearing jersey #3. The elderly man claims that famous players' "ghosts"—including Bill Jones, Frank Smith, and Ted Brown—will watch over the current team, referencing specific historical plays (a fifty-yard field goal, a game-winning tackle). The humor lies in the absurdity of invoking dead legends to inspire present performance. The caption's punchline mocks this sentimentality: the old man hopes the ghost who fumbled a punt will somehow help win games—a contradiction suggesting that past glory doesn't guarantee future success and that nostalgic appeals to tradition are ultimately foolish.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HIS is National Education Week. Any little boy who cannot tell who Rep Gra is and where he comes from will be given two demerits and kept in after school. AL Speaking of Education Week, .the Michigan lad who won a plowing con- test and was awarded a scholarship in an agricultural college is now studying Latin, Ancient History and Psychology. at “New York Cabarets and Restaurants Objectives of Sweeping Dry Raids,” says a news bulletin. Set 'em up in the other alley! Well, it seems that the French Cabinet is out; but if you ask us which one we're not going to tell, because it takes a couple of weeks or so for us to go to press. L With Judge Lanpis working for the League of Nations, it would be a simple matter to fine Greece and Bulgaria for playing a post-season war. JL There was no coal strike in prospect during the last presidential campaign, so the public had no means of knowing just how cool it was going to keep with Coottnce. p jh! IMMORTALITY A frost-nipped public would prefer, we think, to see Pennsylvania kick a few more coals from the field. aL A seven-ton meteorite, just brought to Denmark from Greenland, is valued at five hundred thousand dollars. This is discouraging to us old-timers who can remember when we could purchase a good, serviceable pre-war meteorite for a tenth of that sum. aL The birthday of the umbrella was re- cently celebrated. Many happy returns! Old Varsity Man (oratorically): THEY'LL BE WATCHING YOU, FELLOWS, THE GHOSTS OF THE GREAT TEAMS THAT ONCE TROD THE VERY TURF YOU'RE GOING TO PLAY ON. THE GHOST OF BILL JON A BROKEN FIELD TO WIN FOR US IN 06; THE GHOST OF FRANK SMITH, WHO KICKED THAT FIFTY-YARD FIELD GOAL IN. THE LAST TE! MARVELOUS TACKLE; Glum Fullback (sotto voce): S, WHO RAN NINETY YARDS THROUGH SECONDS OF PLAY IN '12; THE GHOST OF TED BROWN, WHO SAVED THE DAY BACK IN "99 WITH A THE GHOST OF—OF—oF—or—— 1 HOPE HE THINKS OF A GHOST WHO FUMBLED A PUNT. comicbooks.com