Life, 1920-07-29 · page 9 of 36
Life — July 29, 1920 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical page reimagines historical events through modern (1920s-era) circumstances. Each cartoon presents absurdist scenarios: 1. **Coventry, England**: Lady Godiva's legendary nude ride reframed as a protest against high clothing costs—she wears "the oldest clothes imaginable." 2. **Seston, Thrace**: Paris of Troy chooses a woman based on modern beauty pageant standards rather than divine judgment. 3. **St. Augustine, Florida**: Spanish conquistador Ponce de Leon plans to build fortifications against "native merchants" instead of indigenous peoples. 4. **London/Paris**: Historical events (clothing regulations, hat costs) treated as contemporary policy debates. The humor stems from applying modern economic concerns and bureaucratic regulations to ancient history, satirizing contemporary anxieties about inflation and government control.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
If It Had Happened To-day A Few News Dispatches That Throw New Light on History Coventry, England.—The pe coventry regist ing protest against the high = f living to-day by srade, which was witnessed Lady Godiva, who wore St. Augustine, Fla—Headed by_ Pr gation of Spanish economists arrived Vestigate reports that local clothing a fraction of Castille and and other essentials were inaugurated her y Cromwell. Anyone wearing other than the plainest of clothes is nan iron mask subject to arrest and imprisonment under the new edict. comicbooks.com