Life, 1920-07-22 · page 11 of 40
Life — July 22, 1920 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon ("In Those Days"):** A government inspector confronts a child on a beach near a dead whale, citing the "Pure Food Act." The joke satirizes overzealous government food safety regulation—the inspector absurdly suggests the child violated food purity laws by disliking the whale, as if consumption were mandatory. This mocks Progressive Era food inspection bureaucracy as intrusive and ridiculous. **Bottom Section:** A domestic scene where a woman justifies her choice of "Ernest Dowson" (likely the 1890s poet) over "Austin Dobson" as her preferred literary taste. The humor plays on debate over aesthetic preferences and perhaps marital compromise, with the caption about women concealing imperfections adding gentle domestic satire. Both pieces reflect early-20th-century anxieties about regulation and domestic life.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HERE! IN THOSE DAYS Government Inspector (to Jonah, who has just been landed on the ‘ach at Joppa): Look YOU DISAGREED WITH THAT WHALE, DIDN'T you? Jonah (sullenly ): WELL, WHAT oF IT? Government Inspector: MAYBE YOU DON’T REALIZE THAT YOU COME UNDER THE PURE-FOOD ACT. glasses I was forced to buy a melon- shaped, hermetically sealed percolator. One item remained—an errand for my wife. This time I must procure the thing asked for. With determination I entered the shop. “ Hav ou a copy of Ernest Dowson's poems?” “Oh,” was the gentle answer, “ what you want is Austin Dobson. Will you have limp leather or buckram cloth? But perhaps you would prefer this de luxe Nanking set with the Chinese decorative border: “But I don’t want Austin Dobson, It's Ernest Dowson that I want, and Ernest Dowson that I must have.” Once again my protestations were un- heeded. Regardless of anything I might say, it was Dobson that I was after and Dobson that she was going to give me. Then, suddenly, inspiration came. “You are quite right. Austin Dobson is just what I wanted and just what 1 asked for. But now, quite suddenly, I have changed my mind. I will take Ernest Dowson instead.” And here, at last, I had my way. £7 T takes a perfect woman to conceal her imperfections. termination ride one-way fare! ernment control! of“ scenic Mother “'M TRYIN’ TO FIND MY CATERPILLAR.” railway My word! A round trip on a AMUSEMENT PARK VISITOR (at ) This can’t be under gov- NCE we were too proud to fight; but we got over that. Just now we are too proud to work; but Lire is optimistic enough to believe we will get over that also, ETHEL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO BROTHER? comicbooks.com