Life, 1919-01-30 · page 30 of 34
Life — January 30, 1919 — page 30: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine contains satirical short pieces and an advertisement, reflecting early 20th-century editorial humor. **The New Poetry**: Satirizes modernist poetry's obscurity. The magazine's editor receives poems he cannot understand and asks his chief to pick the comprehensible ones, suggesting "new poetry" abandons meaning in favor of artistic pretension. The joke mocks both experimental literature and magazine editors. **The Best of All**: A brief joke about three girls receiving identical silver spoons as Christmas gifts, with each claiming theirs is superior—likely satirizing materialism or snobbish bragging. **Breaking It Gently**: A typist-employer interaction where the boss compliments only the worker's cheerfulness, criticizing her spelling and punctuation. It's a workplace humor piece about delivering criticism tactfully. **The photograph**: Advertises a special limousine built for General Pershing (U.S. commander in WWI) and his staff. This appears positioned as prestigious war-related content rather than satire. The page exemplifies *Life*'s mix of sharp editorial humor targeting contemporary culture alongside patriotic advertisement.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE: CANT SCISSORS, AVT, NLL) ep cs pasha: “Ob, I have, sir,” was the ply. “TL have beer e-tellers The New Poetry H and a clairvoyant, and looked i: said the new Assistant Editor book, and dreamed on a lock oi his Big Magazine, breezing in with a and have been .0 one of those basket full of poems, “I can't make head xers, and to a meejum, 3 nor tail of these poems, I don't know me to go ahead, sir. 1 ai half of ‘em mean!” reckless like, sir.”—Houschold Eureka!” shouted the Big Chiei, em acing hi Pick out the ones you 2 Breaking It Gently derstand, have the artists. illy | 5 | He called his typist to his office frames that aren't Keytap, you dress neatly and yc © new school of | P well modulated voice. 1 might portment also above r “You shouldn't pay me so m . pliments.” The Best of All ' \ only want to put you in Three little girls received each a silver frame of as gift, and they were | vii ter of your spelling and punctua them, \ —Boston ¢ Mes. Hovumias second, was! OF saw yez till t Papa. | = fore me rchnit: marriag “Mine,” said the third, with a superior Hoviinax: Faith, Oi wish y air, “says ‘ Hotel Washington THE LAST INSTALMENT OF TITAT SERIAL seen me till the day ta Argus. —Boston Trai r is published every Thu! h da and British Po: s. Title registered in U ratent Office Additios reign countries in the Postal Uni ro cents, Rack numbers, es prior to For Reprin jer Lone, Low SPECIAL TOURING LIMOUSINE LOCOMOBILE A new type of fast Army closed car designed and shipped abroad for the'use of General Pershing and the General Staff Custom desiga by The Locomobile Company of America, Bridgeport, Conn.