Life, 1926-08-26 · page 27 of 41
Life — August 26, 1926 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a charitable fundraising appeal, not a cartoon. It promotes Life magazine's "Fresh Air Fund," which sent poor urban children—particularly immigrant children from Italian and other European backgrounds—to summer camps in the countryside. The page uses emotional appeals featuring photographs of children enjoying outdoor activities (racing, playing with a dog named Bruno) to convince readers to donate $20 to sponsor eighteen days of camp for one needy child. The text emphasizes urban poverty ("cooped up in the slums") and contrasts it with rural happiness, reflecting early 20th-century Progressive Era attitudes about nature's moral benefits for poor children. The patriotic framing—with children staging "a patriotic service" at camp—suggests this charitable work as an American civic duty, helping assimilate immigrant children while providing them temporary escape from tenement life.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OW much will you give to bring to the face of an- other little Ital- ian girl a smile like this—aimed lovingly and un- dividedly at a bunch of yellow pansies, the first she has ever picked in a green, cool gar- den? Will You Help? you can’t sign the Declaration of Independence—that has been at- tended to. But you can sign one of these coupons, and set free a little city prisoner, open the door for a while to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Whom will you send? A “little mother” of ten whose tiny arms are weary of holding the last baby, and who longs to play like any other little child? Or shall it be a tall, undernourished girl-child, sol- emn-cyed, all too used to trouble and fear? Will you sct her free for a little holiday ? To be a child, and not to have the heritage of happy childhood! What a terrible pity! Well, thank Heaven, there are those who say, “Let me help! Let me give those youngsters a little joy!” tcen days at either of Li Camps costs Twenty Dollars ($20.), but any sum, no matter how small, is welcome. Summer is not over yet. Think of the little ones who have spent the past hot months cooped up in the slums. What boy will you send to the country? That little red-haired chap who knows what it is to be hungry? Or that black-eyed young “rough - neck” who looks belligerent only because he’s afraid, but who has wonder- ful “makin’s” in him? Or maybe that blue-eyed imp with the freckles on his nose? The one who looks so like your Johnnie who is down at the seashore. L. A. F. LIFE’S FRESH AIR FUND 598 Madison Avenue, New York, N. Y. Please send, in my name, to one of Lire’s Camps for the usual holiday, or apply the money enclosed to make up the neces- sary amount for one child. (Name) (Address) Life Sign, Please! For Eighteen Days of Happiness for a Needy Child at One of Lire’s Fresh Air Camps THESE LITTLE GIRLS, WHOSE PARENTS CAME TO AMERICA FROM A DO; TANT COUNTRIES, STAGED A SIMPLE, ITEART-STIRRING PATRIOTIC SERVICE AT LIPE’s CAMP, BRANCHVILLE, CONN. RACING LIKE YOUNG INDIANS OVER THE LDS AT POTTE! BOYS OF LIFE’S CAMP SHAKE THE CITY DUST FROM THEIR FLYIN WILD AND UNTOLD JOY, 9 FEET WITIL DOG! A dog! A real, live pet! To feed, and play ball with, and love, and take care of. A season at Camp has done much to develop Bruno’s patience and he from one set of lov- ing hands to another, proudly conscious— in his good dog way— that he is “doing his bit” toward making f some- one happy. boy (s) passes girl(s) comicbooks.com