Life, 1920-03-18 · page 13 of 54
Life — March 18, 1920 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page features two sections: a poem titled "Reverie" by Harvey Allen about California's attractions, and a cartoon captioned "Through Tickets." The cartoon depicts a harried traveler at a railway ticket window asking about trains to San Francisco. A frustrated ticket agent responds that no trains leave for thirty-five minutes and the passenger is "in such a hurry." The joke satirizes the impatience of American tourists and the absurdity of train travel delays in the early 20th century. The "Reverie" poem romanticizes California destinations—Coronado, Los Angeles, and Catalina—reflecting contemporary American fascination with Western travel and leisure. Together, these pieces humorously contrast idealized California imagery with the frustrating realities of actually getting there by rail.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Reverie FTER dinner when I'm sitting, And the firelight wavers, flitting Like the shadows on the bottom of the sea, When the winter winds go rumbling And the chimney throat is grumbling, There's a dream, a reverie, that comes to me. The beach at Coronado Is awash with summer seas, And the orange trees are blooming Round about Los Angeles; 1 can smell the eucalyptus And the peppers in their prime With their berries red as holly is At merry Christmas time. In the bleakest of December, As in June-time you may go Into orchards I remember, Where the only snow they know Is the blossom petals’ drifting Through the warm, delicious breeze, And the bees make orange honey Spiced like mellow nectar lees. Comes a great, a keen nostalgia That my dreams wil not appease For the winds of California, Like the gales of Celebes, And I hear the grapefruit flopping; 1 can see those yellow globes Fall like golden beads a-dropping From some genial giant's robes. I can see blue evening falling In the dry-land’s sapphire gloom, Hear the lone coyote calling To his brother, while the moon Turns the inland mountains amber, And the night to ivory day Over Santa Catalina, Grandly sailing Nippon way. L'Envoi Take me somewhere west of Denver Where a man can quench a thirst! Where the grapevines still are growing, Though the law has done its worst, Where the winter turns to summer As the tourist hurtles through Green Pomona, hard by Uplands, On the road to “ San Berdoo.” Hervey Allen, ew eo Sub FUR SAN FRANCISCO? “ NOT FOR THIRTY-FIVE MINUTES, MADAM.” “reH—TcH—TcH! AND I'M IN suCH A HURRY!” “ Breathless New Yorker: OH! PLEASE—WHEN DOFS THE FIRST TRAIN LEAVE comicbooks.com