Life, 1919-08-21 · page 37 of 40
Life — August 21, 1919 — page 37: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page mixes **satirical social commentary with period advertising**. The main satire, "Things We May Still Do," tracks **progressive restrictions on American life** across three years (1920-1922), likely referencing **Prohibition's passage (1920)** and growing government regulation. The joke shows freedoms shrinking annually—from visiting town twice monthly to eating ice cream three times yearly to eventually just "Pay taxes"—mocking how intrusive regulation feels. The "Old Friends" section is a **Williams' Shaving Cream advertisement** using nostalgic appeal, claiming the product has served "more than three generations" and referencing pre-Civil War customers. This was common period marketing targeting older, conservative male consumers. The lower section satirizes a **prize contest for improving Congress and Presidential governance**, with Life cynically suggesting it's easier to abolish Congress and elect a new president than reform them—political commentary on government dysfunction. The final joke about a young doctor prescribing illegibly but billing clearly is **period satire on medical profession ethics**.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Cuticura ‘Heals iy Itching Burning] i, Skin Troubles 25, Ointment 23 os Sz Taleum 3. mariseg" “eatienre, Dept, Things We May Still Do 1920 0 down town twice a month if ac- Cree nied always by a sworn daperon of the Prohibitionist party. Listen to the speeches of Billy Sun- fy, William Jennings Bryan and Sec- mary Baker. Eat ice cream three times a year. Go to the movies when they show drilling views of the falls of the Yo- enite or the rapids in the upper Yang-Hoo-Lo river in China. Watch the stars come out on the oor evenings in the year when the smoke isn’t too thick. Pay taxes. 1921 e Listen to the speeches of Billy Sun- Old Friends by, Eat ice cream once a year. Creased and wrinkled skins made friends with Williams’ Pay taxes. Shaving Soap more than three generations ago. 1922 And many a man who discovered Williams’ as a youngster Pay taxes. before Civil War days still clings to it. Not just because it — is an old standby, either. For as the lines in the face get deeper and the razor’s job harder, the more he appreciates the real merits of the thick, softening, velvety Williams’ lather. And no matter how slowly and carefully he shaves, it’s “‘the kind that won't dry on the face.” | There are many shaving creams on the market; some good, some indifferent. Try them. Compare them carefully. Then | you will better understand why the ultimate choice of so many men Is of the four forms soap — Cream, Stick, Powder and Liguid. Or vend be. ia stamps for any one. The J. B. WILLIAMS CO. De: RAM ESES . ShavingCream === the perfume you pret THE JB.WILUIAMS CO.GLASTONBURY, COMM Carnation, Enelioh Lilac of Rose. Too Easy would be fair to the others. Merely PRIZE of two thousand dollars to show, however, that we could v in has been offered by Henry W. if we wanted to, we will state the first Phillips through the American. Philo. part of our plan consists in abolishing sophical Society for Promoting Use- Congress and electing a new President. ful Knowledge, to the essayist who ——— advances the best plan for the conduct OUNG M. D. Well, Dad, I'm of Congress and the President in our hanging out my shingle; can't you foreign relations. give me some rules for success? We hate to take the money. ery- “Always write your prescriptions thing considered, we do not thin! illegibly and your bills very plainly.” comicbooks.com