Life, 1914-08-27 · page 27 of 44
Life — August 27, 1914 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**"Congo Moving-Picture Show"** (top cartoon): A racist caricature depicting a chimpanzee trying to enter a movie theater. The joke relies on dehumanizing imagery common to early 20th-century American entertainment—equating Black Africans with primates. The humor hinges on the absurd scenario of an animal seeking admission. **"A Disappointing Invention"** (middle): Satirizes a reported hair-restoration method from Buda-Pesth (Budapest). The satire mocks both the invention's absurd complexity and—more pointedly—the inventor's misplaced talents. The author suggests such ingenuity should address internal human problems ("equipment on the inside of people's heads") rather than trivial cosmetic concerns. **Bottom exchanges**: Brief satirical dialogue. "European war debts" references post-WWI financial obligations; the joke contrasts public concern with private financial anxieties. The final item mocks husbands worried about wives' feminism and young secretaries—reflecting period anxiety about changing gender roles and workplace dynamics. All content reflects 1920s-era satirical humor and social attitudes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
beslid Resa] ONG ASSTION -CBARNES AT THE CONGO MOVING-PICTURE SHOW Ticket Seller: NO; CAN'T LET YOU IN WITHOUT A GUARDIAN. YOU ARE UNDER ACE Chimpie: HUH! YoU LET BILLY HIPP GO IN AND HE'S ONLY TWO YEARS OLD A Disappointing Invention RIGGS: What happened in Europe yesterday? Griccs: Haven't the slightest idea. I've just fin- MAN in Buda-Pesth has invented a method whereby ished the morning papers. bald heads can be made to blossom as the rose. By a system of needles and gold wire he plants new hairs in the scalp so permanently that they cannot be removed except by a hydraulic pile-extractor or a Kansas tornado. Every hair is carefully numbered and registered. In case anything happens at any time, the hair can be replaced by sending the number and a short description to the factory supplying the original parts. Another advantage of this new system is that the hair requires no cutting, because, not having taken out naturalization papers, it does not begin to grow up with the country. On account of the expense of putting it in, also, any wife, no matter how much she might lose her temper, would naturally hesitate to undergo the expense of even making an attempt at pulling it out. In spite of all the obvious advantages of this new inven- tion, however, we must view it with some regret, when we think of the misplaced talent of the inventor. What he ought to have done is to originate a system of putting new equipment on the inside of people’s heads rather than on the outside. ODD: Here's a list of European war debts. Don't they stagger you? Topp: Well, they might, old man, but I've just been ADVICE TO HUSBANDS OF FEMINISTS looking over my monthly accounts, BEWARE OF YOUNG AND HANDSOME STENOGRAPHERS