Life, 1929-01-11 · page 11 of 36
Life — January 11, 1929 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical illustration mocks an expedition by Colonel P. Vosdewell McPhoogle and his wife, who claim to have discovered a previously unknown species called "homo mulierum litteratum"—literally "woman of letters" or educated woman. The cartoon presents the "discovery" as a stuffed specimen hanging alongside other game trophies, with hunters posing proudly beside it. The satire targets early 20th-century attitudes dismissing educated women as curiosities or oddities rather than normal members of society. By framing an intelligent woman as a rare "big game" find worthy of mounted display, the cartoon ridicules both the hunters' condescension and the broader cultural resistance to women's intellectual advancement and independence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AMATI Big Game Hunters Return With the ‘Homo Racoonus” The shove picture, drawn exclusively for Live, by the official artist of | down in their native haunts, Dainty Mrs. MePhoogle is perched upon a the Col. P. Yodelwell McPhoogle expedition, is the first to reach these full grown “homo multarum literarum,” a breed almost extinct, and shores. Col. MePhoogle and his daring wife penetrated into the thick of — hanging om the rack in the background are three “triple threat homos.” the campus, and can be seen with a few specimens which were shot “Never was the homo racoonus more plentiful!” exclaimed the colonel. comicbooks.com