Life, 1919-10-16 · page 26 of 36
Life — October 16, 1919 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The page contains three unrelated humorous pieces typical of *Life* magazine's satirical format: 1. **"Definite"**: A joke about a Swedish immigrant bill collector in South Dakota who misunderstands "January" as "Yanuary" due to his accent. The humor relies on ethnic dialect comedy, common in early 20th-century American humor—poking fun at Scandinavian immigrants' English pronunciation. 2. **"The Essential"**: A one-liner about a man named Smithers who calls his wife "my own" because, unlike everything else in their home, she isn't being purchased on an installment plan. This satirizes consumer debt culture and suggests wives are possessions. 3. **"A Holed-up and a Life Saver"**: An advertisement for Life Savers candy, featuring a pun on "holed-up" (cornered) and the candy's distinctive hole. The ad copy emphasizes safety for children. The page is primarily **advertising and light humor** rather than serious political commentary. The ethnic jokes and gender attitudes reflect attitudes typical of the era but would be considered offensive today.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Definite A young Swede in South Dakota, who had been sent out to collect bills for the general store, returned with this report : “Yon Brown, he say he pay when he sell his wheat; Ole Oleson, he say he pay when he sell his oats; and Yon Yon- son, he say he pay wary.” “In ry?” fory-surprised. “Why, be never’set a date before. Are you sure he said Janu- ary?” “Vell, Ay tank it bane Yanuary. He cold day when you get merican Legion Weekly. repeated the proprie- say it bane your money.”— The Essential “T wonder will Smithers always allude to his wife so lovingly as ‘my own’?” “Well, she is his own, Everything else in his home he is paying for on the instalment plan."—Pearson's Weekly. A staixe is not a“ brake on industry.” It’s a displaced switch. 's-zeasy —Wall Street Journal. M re is published every Thursday, simultaneously in the United States, Great Britain, da and British Possessions. Title registered in U. S. Patent Office. $5.00 a year Additional postage to foreign countries in the Postal Union, $1.04 a year; ingle current copies, 10 cents. Back numbers, after three months s cents. Issues prior to 1910 out of print. in Lure are copyrighted. For Reprint Rights in Great Britain Breams Buildings, Fetter Lane, London, E. C., England: apply to Li A Holed-up and a Life Saver Four Holesome Flavors: PEP-O-MINT WINT-O-GREEN C CL-O-VE LIC-O-RICE 1 GOT A Jom INSPECTIN’ GAS RS IN PRIVATE HOMES.” New Poetry Then you give nd Tl n sive More pay! = Then all will have for all they do More pay! And though we'll then pay higher For everything we buy, you bet! Who'll care, since all of us will us will ge More 1 in Transeri The Usual Comment Tn an infant the miracle of the into. wine Bible lesson In telling the story she oceasiona asked a few questions. One of them wa “When the new wine was brought the governor of the feast what did say?” A little girl, remembering what & had heard, probably on some festive casion, called out “ Here's luck —Cle' nol the teacher ey water being ta as the subject of the os eland News-Lesder Pratonic friendship is the gua didn't know was loaded. —London Daily Sketch The foreign trade supplied from Lire’s London Office, Rolls House, Breas ings, London, E. C. Canadian distributor, J. R. Tanguay, 386-388 St J Montreal, Canada. No contributions will be returned unless accompanied by stamped ond ire does not hold itself responsible for the loss or nomeetus butions. nge of address should reach this office ten days prior to tht |. HIS young footpad has just demanded “More He's being bought off wi Real your Life Saver.” pure, ever-fresh candy-mint-with-the-hole. savers for kiddies and grownups too. LIFE SAVERs THE CANDY MINT WITH THE HOLE To drown the taste of med give the children a Life No danger of choking w hole to breathe through the quality mints— Life S These happy, snappy mints are the ideal sweet-tooth satisfiers, Crisp, spicy, slow-dissolving. they last longer than any other formsofcandy. They donotcloy, nor upset digestion. They aid it.