Funny! But as one who occasionally drops words while I'm typing fast, let alone how formatting errors can eat words that really were there, I feel sorry for the reviewer when he gets home. :(

I love the mag cover! Considering how fast some drivers go, maybe that costume might get their attention if the crossing guards started wearing them. LOL

With all that snow the cars weren't going every fast that day...weird picture, though.

Yea, I don't get it. He's going to kill them? The kids could be killed? I assume the latter, but I'm still not sure :)

LOL Tamara . . . I can see it now! The articles and ads in the magazine are fascinating. It's hard to believe customs (and people) could have changed so much in one century.

While it doesn't quite have the warm feel of Norman Rockwell the illustration is really quite pleasant. Thanks for posting it.

Now are you going to frame it and hang it in the grandkids bedrooms?

What does the star on his coat signify?

That Grim reaper looks an awful lot like a Father Christmas statue I own.

sjerin, I would think the star is like a sheriff badge.

Possibly that represents the New Year, Father Time? The publishing date was January 1915. Europe was embroiled in WWI. The coat and helmet could be part of a uniform?

Susan - is there anything inside the magazine that explains the cover illustration?

Yeah, I was thinking Father Time, too. And the uniform looks kind of like an air raid warden.

Maire, I'm thinking of sending the magazine to my cousin Jackie, who has two young children. I think she'll find it interesting.

I don't see anything in the table of contents to explain the cover. Here are some sample article titles:

What Thrift Means

The Rise and Fall of Junior (fiction)

Making Mistresses of Our Young Maids (hmm.... LOL)

Is Your Child Afraid of God?

The Child as the Salvation of the Parent

Hot Rocks for Little Folks

Are You Married? Are You Happy?

Short Cuts to Piano Efficiency

Toothsome Ways of Serving Oysters

A piece on "An Inexpensive Outfit for the Winter Baby" gives a shopping list:

12 yards of longcloth @ 15¢ per yard; 12 yards flannel @ 10¢ per yard; and 24 yards white outing flannel @ 8.3¢ per yard (how did they do that?).

On the same page is an ad for sometime called Imperial Granum--Food for the Nursing Mother. "Increases the quantity and quality of her milk and gives strength to bear the strain of nursing. Imperial Granum is the food that gives hard, firm flesh, good bone and rich, red blood."

As a retired La Leche League leader, I have no idea what this is. :-)

I don't think he is the Grim Reaper. Is that possibly some sort of ice axe? Or pick axe? I think he is just a crossing guard who is wearing a badge to show he is official. That looks like a hat an old man would wear. The black outfit is probably some sort weather related gear to keep the cold and moisture out.

TulsaRose is very close. At least, he looks very similar to another depiction around the same time. That he has on an all black outfit is more to the point. Seems like our current day Father Time has either a white or brown cloak/mantle.

where it came from

I like the idea of Father Time rather than the Grim Reaper, but I wonder why Father Time is carrying a scythe. Is it somehow symbolic of time passing? (A time to reap and a time to sow?)

I think it is Father time. He came from the Greek and Roman Gods and is associated with agriculture.
http://www.novareinna.com/festive/oft.html

Interesting! The lead story appears to be an editorial called "The Sign of the Times". I think it might have something to do with the war or perhaps the rise of communism?

But to change the subject...I got a kick out of the restaurant review and thought you might enjoy this collection of interesting newspaper headlines:

Homicide Victims Rarely Talk to Police

According to the subheading, "Signs of the Times" is:

A powerful story that shows how neglect starts boys on the road to crime, and what society is doing to make useful citizens of juvenile delinquents

Tally, those headlines are hilarious--thanks! I just started reading them, and am going to go back and finish now. So funny! They deserve a thread all their own.

Probably Father Time on the cover as it's the January issue.

I'm more inclined to the Grim Reaper suggestion - I think that one of the marks was carrying a scythe.

Note the style of the car - it was in the early days of carhood ... when many feared that they'd be the death of large numbers.

Note also ... the two-storey school.

ole joyful ... who walked a rural highway 1/2 mile to first school ... and no crossing guard (trip was uphill, both ways, of course)

P.S. David C. Cook was a publisher of Sunday School materials ... of the rather strict traditional kind