Life, 1928-12-14 · page 17 of 48
Life — December 14, 1928 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical cartoon by Gill Runnells depicts a scruffy, mixed-breed dog beneath a coat of arms, mocking pretentious genealogy. The poem by Arthur Guiterman reveals the joke: the dog boasts of aristocratic ancestry (Chow, Setter, Airedale, Beagle Hound), yet somehow produced this undistinguished mongrel offspring from "Decent Folks." The satire targets social climbers and those obsessed with pedigree and noble lineage. Despite claims of pure breeding, the dog represents how mixing and chance can produce unpredictable results—a commentary on human society's similar contradictions between pretended superiority and actual outcomes. The humor lies in applying human vanity about family trees to animals, exposing the absurdity of inherited pride divorced from reality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
FAMILY PRIDE His great-grandfather was a Chow, he said; His great-grandmother was a Setter,—red; His grandsire was an Airedale, far-renowned, His father was a famous Beagle Hound. Those pampered Pekes and Poms might have their jokes, But anyhow he came from Decent Folks! Arthur Guiterman. comicbooks.com