Life, 1915-11-18 · page 37 of 52
Life — November 18, 1915 — page 37: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**The Satire ("Impossible Conversations"):** An office boy audaciously lectures his employer, the head of the firm, on his worthlessness. The boy claims the boss is "dead"—successful financially but spiritually and intellectually defunct, incapable of growth, and only pretending to matter while others do the real work. The humor lies in the role reversal: a subordinate speaks with brutal honesty that would cost him his job, yet the boss listens. The "impossible conversation" is one where truth-telling destroys social hierarchy. **The Advertisement:** Velvet Tobacco dominates the right side, featuring a Thanksgiving poem celebrating tobacco as "Nature's last, best gift." It emphasizes the Burley leaf's superiority and aging process (two years in wooden hogsheads for smoothness). **Context for Modern Readers:** The juxtaposition is ironic: the satire mocks empty success and pretense while advertising sells tobacco through appeals to natural wholesomeness and family values—itself a form of pretense. Both pieces reflect 1920s attitudes about work, authenticity, and consumerism.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
q Impossible Conversations T was the dullest part of the business afternoon. “What impresses me,” said the office boy to the head of the firm, “is that, although you have been associated with me now for a long time, it hasn't seemed to do you any good.” “T don’t quite see that,” said the head of the firm. “Well, for one thing, you have no enthusiasm for honest work. You make a bluff at it, but you really don’t do anything. Everybody else works for you, but you do nothing but pre- tend you amount to something. And your manners are invariably bad. If I said one half the things you say in a day, I'd lose my job. Your real trouble is that you have no capacity for development. You've reached your limit. Nobody's example—not even mine—will do you any good.” The head of the firm actually smiled. “Granted that what you say is true,” he replied, “what would be the use? Lam successful. Isn't that plenty?” “There you are!” cried the office boy. “You think just because you are successful that you are alive. But you are not. You're dead. That's the main point, my boy. You're ignorant. You think you're somebody because, as you so smugly state, you are suc- cessful. Nonsense! That’s when you began to be nobody.” “You don’t expect me to believe that, do you?” “Certainly not. If you had the capacity of believing in what is true, you wouldn't be here.” “Where would I be?" asked the head of the firm. The office boy reflected as he started in on one of the ink wells. “Well,” he replied, “I suppose you would be working for somebody else.” ON THE CONTRARY ‘an’ peace for an’ comeribs burstin’ ‘With the fruits of earth's increase, Ain’t it right to be as thankful For the thing we sation oll comfort bringin’ peace-plant— Nature's last, best gift of all ? She makes it out of sunshine An’ she cools it in the breeze ‘An’ she gives it to the fragrance Of the apples on the trees. Like a fav'rite child she tends it, Till it's full grown-up, an’ then She cures it into — To make glad the hearts of men. att” Truly was not tobacco the last great gift of Nature to be disclosed to us? And if Nature ever had a “fav'rite child,” surely it is the Burley leaf of Kentucky that Nature herself is allowed to transform into VELVET. Mildness, “body” fragrance—pipe smoking qualities, all—are given to Burley tobacco above its less favored “relatives.” And in order that nothing of these be lost, Nature is our chief ad- viser in the maturing of VELVET. “Pipe Tobacco,” she says, in effect, “teaches its full excellence after two years of maturing.” Two years VEL- * VET spends in wooden hogsheads taking on the mellowness that makes it the smoothest smoking tobacco. Liggette Myers Tobacco Cr 10¢ Tins Se Metal-lined Bags One Pound Glass Humidors comicbooks.com