Life — January 23, 1931 — page 5: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page from *Life* magazine features a satirical poem titled "Notes on Bringing up a New Year." The illustration shows a mother with children in a domestic interior, likely representing the "New Year" as a child being raised. The poem humorously presents advice for training the incoming year like a disciplined child—keeping it "tractable, matter-of-factable, / Serious, steady and solid." The speaker warns against economic instability ("breaks in the market"), unemployment, and war, advocating instead for industrial productivity and virtuous behavior. The satire mocks the optimistic notion that one can simply "raise" a new year properly through moral instruction, ignoring larger economic and political forces. It reflects anxiety about post-war economic conditions and social stability during the early 1920s.