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Can You Beat It? was a comic panel that originally appeared in the New York World in 1906, and was eventually syndicated to several papers across the nation. Only scant information is available about it or its creator. The artist signed his name as Maurice Kennet, but apparently was an Italian immigrant named Prosper Fiorini. According to the only source I could find on him, he studied at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, before deciding to move to the United States to draw cartoons for Joseph Pulitzer. Not the path I would have taken were I in his shoes, but I guess it paid well.
The joke here is that sometimes you can never really know what someone might like for a gift unless you ask them, which is hardly a joke if you ask me. I realize some people feel it's more thoughtful to intuit what someone else might like yourself instead of just asking them, but in my experience that always ends in disappointment. Just ask them what they want, and get it for them, and everyone will be happy. It's not exciting or surprising, but it's certainly less stressful, which I think is always a plus.