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Life, 1918-10-24 · page 31 of 34

Life — October 24, 1918 — page 31: what you’re looking at

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Life — October 24, 1918 — page 31: Life, 1918-10-24

What you’re looking at

This page contains three satirical pieces typical of Life's early 20th-century style: **"The Tired Business Man"** is the main feature—a humorous character sketch about a corporate executive who excels professionally (knowing bank statements, production figures, commodity prices) but is socially inept and uncomfortable in social settings with "hostesses, buds, dowagers." The satire mocks the narrow specialization of modern business culture. An advertisement for *Vanity Fair* magazine follows, offering solutions to this social incompetence. The smaller pieces include: **"Purely Biological"**: A comedic dialogue where children say "I love you" as their "college yell," satirizing academic pretension. **"No Use"**: A WWI-era joke about German soldiers expressing shock that Black American troops continue fighting after gas attacks, implying racist surprise at their combat effectiveness. The page also contains period advertisements (Piso's cough medicine) and a "Pioneer" item about German generals distributing pamphlets promoting weeds as food—satirizing German wartime hardship and propaganda.

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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

LIFE When Civil War Babies Coughed —and that was more than 50 years ago— Piso’s was given for Prompt, relief, generations have used Piso’s. Quickly re- lieves coughing; eases tickling; soothes in- flamed throats and allays hoarseness. You can get Piso’s everywhere. Contains No Opiate oe for Young and Old Purely Biological ontinued from page 608) r Ixrant: How would you do Secon Inrant: As they approach exclaim in unison, “I love you,” if hat effect this will have. Fist Ineant: That's not a bad idea. Here they come. Are you ready? xo Ineant: All ready. To- Inrant, Seconp Ineant (in I love you! I love you! I Motner (startled, turning Weren't those our children? xp Moruer (indifferently): 1 they were. oo : Morner: They gave me such —a feeling I never remember experienced before. What was cy were repeating? Nb Morner: Really, now, my lotine, I am surprised at your ignorance. Don't you know that is only the latest college yell? No Use {E Huns in a recent battle kept sending over frequent clouds of ainst a certain American sector. During the night the white troops were relieved by a regiment of negroes. The ment of the Huns turned, next to consternation, and message er message was sent to the rear: We have gassed the Americans until they have turned blak in the face, and still they Fgh ye. Three | Pioneer [' the hastily evacuated quarters of a German general, who dined sumptu- ously himself, have been found pamph- lets extolling the values of various weeds as food—for the common peo- ple, of course. Heretofore Nebuchadnezzar's grass dict has always been regarded as evi- dence of a disordered mind. Appar- ently he was merely the pioneer in this movement of German Kultur to sug- gest suitable food for those rated as mere cannon fodder. Only, poor Neb. d years in ance and made the mistake of and are perhaps forgotten. An annual subscription to Live is @ regular re- It is the Tired Business Man He is chain-lightning in his office. He knows all about the bank-statement, the corn crop, the freight-car shortage, the liquidation of Smith-Jones, Inc., and the drop in Iceland Moss Preferred. He can quote you, instantly, the August production of his Grand Rapids branch factory to one-tenth of one percent. But socially! great Beatrice Fairfax! He is lost at a dances swamped at a dinner; helpless. when confronted with hostesses, buds, dowagers, visiting French generals, literary lions, Hi man’s sculpture, or golf, or tion, or pedigreed dogs. Sometimes, in his secret soul, he wonders how other men get on so well with people who are, to him, as incomprehensible as the dodo. And yet it’s so easy—so simple—so_inex- pensive to learn. All he needs is to tear off that coupon and spend a single dollar for the forward-march ing magazine of modern American life—it- ports, dances, fashions, books, operas, and humors: Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair costs $3 a year—35 cents a copy There is more joyous fun-making and men- tal stimulation in one single copy than in fourteen yards of Bergson or Ralph Waldo Emerson. Yet, if you do not know Vanity Fair, or would like to know it better, you may have five whole copies for an ins cant dollar—six, if you mail the coupon now. Five Issues of Vanity Fair for Six, if you mail the coupon now. Stop where you ar Tear off that coupon! VANITY FAIR, 19 West 44th Street, New York City ant ta go through life wit, my mind open: to keep my esmpathies warm: to keen in touch with the newest and tw Tivel test. tnfivences life. “Therefore. 1 teint remit Soce, ecelpt of Teeetved in time, you will s jou ta send me the next PIVE numbers of Vanity Pair. I want y DIN COM) my favorite, dollar is oclosed ‘me a complimentary copy of the current issue, making SEX issues in all T understand that if this onder ts comicbooks.com