Dr. Seuss’s grown-up humor often catches us off-guard, as we forget (or were unaware) that he was editor-in-chief of his college humor magazine and had a significant career as an advertising man, editorial cartoonist, and essayist years before his vocation in children’s literature. Ted’s painting The Facts of Life appeared on the back cover of the July 1937 issue of Ballyhoo, the magazine which was the inspiration for-and predecessor to-Mad magazine. Painted during his Deco Period, this artwork presents an early example of just how rich Dr. Seuss’s grown-up humor could be and would become. As is often the case with Dr. Seuss’s paintings, his titles and captions cleanly deliver punch lines which add depth and dimension to his singular brand of parlor humor. Here he takes a whispered subject and plops it down on the parlor table through the central character’s proclamation: “Gad, Emma, this stuff’s dynamite!” A Midnight Painting, as with others from the 1930 ‘s and 40’s, The Facts of Life uses artistic elements derived from his most successful work as a commercial illustrator. Referred to as Geisel’s Deco Period, these years allude to his instinctive use of saturated black backgrounds combined with art deco influences often found among the architecture of his artworks. In addition to The Facts of Life this influence can also be seen in After Dark in the Park, Waterfall, Surly Cat Being Ejected, Elephant Presenting a Flower to a Bird, Pink Tufted Small Beast in a Night Landscape, Stag at Eve, Tower of Babel and Flower Fish many of his most popular and collected works.