Life, 1912-10-03 · page 23 of 56
Life — October 3, 1912 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces about early 1900s American life: **"Musical Comedy"** is an alphabetical mockery of theatrical production, presenting it as a cynical assembly-line process. Each letter represents a participant—from the Author and Barber to the Manager and Press-agent—suggesting the entire enterprise is formulaic hack work designed to extract money from audiences ("Y is Yourself, who bought tickets to-day"). **"Brokers Are Generous"** sarcastically praises stock brokers' willingness to dispense financial advice without charge, unlike lawyers or doctors. The joke is that brokers confidently predict market movements they cannot actually know, and when wrong, blame the client's misunderstanding rather than their own incompetence. The cartoons illustrate theatrical absurdity (top) and street commerce (bottom), contrasting stage fantasy with street reality. The page overall reflects early 20th-century American skepticism toward commercial institutions and entertainment industries.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Wout dnt You Like fo be a Little Miss Muffet Sat on a tuffct, Eating some curds and whey; There came a fat And sat down besi Rut he didn’t frighten Miss Muffet away der her— The Amazon: v WINDOW WITH You. “LIPE< Yamous podtress ge ¢ we JON’T TALK TO ME OX I'LL—I’LL BREAK A Musical Comedy A was an Author who thought of a pun, B was the Barber, who thought it was fun. C was the Cook who was wailing for wages, And D was pure Drivel for two hundred pages. E Electrician who planned out the show. F was a Friend, who was sure it would go. G was the Goal of dramatic intent, And H Hack-composer, at ninety per cent. I was Inanity, making a book Of J, that's the Joke, that had paid off the cook K was a manager's Kinsman, who said That for Love of the hack he would have the play read M was the Manager, skilled in the arts, N were the Nymphs that he picked for their parts O was an Opportune Opening Night, P the Press-agent, who knew what to write. Q was the Query of “ Why did he do it?” R the Reply, “ Well, he doesn’t sit through it.” S was the Sidewalk brigade in a throng, T was the usual Topical song. U was the Usher who sneers at your haste, V was the Varlet whose clothes hurt your taste. And W Waltz, which must go—it’s the style, X was the X for two seats on the aisle. Y is Yourself, who bought tickets to-day, And Z is the Zany who goes to the play. H. B. P. Brokers Are Generous TOCK brokers are the most generous of any profession They are so different from doctors and lawyers. One is afraid to ask his lawyer the time of day lest a bill be forthcoming the next week, and if your doctor says “How d’do?” you dare not answer. But you can ask your broker the most important and far-reaching question with perfect impunity, and he will tell you without hesitation anything he knows, and many things he doesn’t know. He will outline the probable course of “industrials” or “ railroads” or “copper,” and, if he is right, you may be able to make millions out of If he is wrong, perhaps you misunderstood him. What more could you ask for? THE FLOWER SELLER ON THE STAGE AND ON THE STREET comicbooks.com