Life, 1920-08-12 · page 17 of 44
Life — August 12, 1920 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top cartoon**: An automobilist asks a farmer why he's making money from pulling cars out of a rut. The farmer reveals he earns about $1,000 yearly from this work—suggesting he deliberately maintains the rut to guarantee business. The joke satirizes rural corruption and poor road maintenance, with an implied jab at the road commissioner's negligence or complicity. **"Any Afternoon at the Bridge Club"**: Mocks upper-class women's social gatherings, particularly their obsessive discussion of their children while playing cards. The unnamed speaker dominates conversation, constantly interrupting the game to brag about her son Fred's minor accomplishments, oblivious to her friends' annoyance. The satire targets maternal self-absorption and frivolous socializing. **"Not Satisfactory"**: A brief joke about a patient resisting a surgeon's $600 appendix removal bill, comparing it to robbery. The humor lies in the patient's blunt accusation that the operation itself is a form of theft.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Automobilist: YoU MUST MAKE QUITE A BITTLE MONEY DRAWING CARS OUT OF THIS RUT IN THE ROAD. Farmer: Yes, Stk, 10, THAT THERE RUT BRINGS ME IN ABOUT A THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR, “ust! WHO'S THE ROAD COMMISSIONER HEREADOUTS?” Any Afternoon at the Bridge Club the bridge club a babies’ party. If you don’t want to listen, you don't have to, but it’s your own child I'm talking about—” “[T certainly is splendid to have you with us again, Anne, and (To be discontinued immediately) what a lovely coincidence that you and George and Harry and I should be at the same table. Deal, please, Harry. And : to think that you have a little boy, too! Isn't it wonderful? Not Satisfactory Little Fred is so sweet—such cunning ways. Why, only yester- URGEON: The bill for removing your appendix is six day he— Oh, what a worthless hand! I really haven't a thing. hundred dollars. Is that satisfactory? Did you know that Violet Matthieson has a girl? Oh, yes, Patient: No. I didn’t think you would stick a knife into a four months old. The image of Violet. Oh, pardon me, what chap and then rob him! did you bid? Well—three spades. My goodness! Harry, I hope you have something, because I can't make it with these cards. Do you know, I really think Fred is progressing much more rapidly than the average child. Yesterday while he was having some milk he overturned his glass and started to cry a little. I asked him playfully what he wanted, and—would you believe it?—he answered ‘ More,’ so distincily that there wasn’t a shadow of a doubt. Wasn't that clever of him? He's such a little darling! “My play? Oh, please pardon me. That makes four tricks. Harry, I must make five more. Oh, if you had only laid down one card—then I know we could make it. Why, Anne, of course not! Freddy is never in the way. No, he never did that, though of course h a little older than little George. Why, Harry, you never said that before! You always say you like to take care of him. Of course it is a bit of a nuisance on the maid's night out, when we can’t leave the house because of the baby, but—only two tricks to get, but I’m afraid I played that wrong. “Have you heard the new song, ‘Gingham Blues,’ from ‘Tarry a While, Bessie’? I heard it on the victrola to-day. That reminds me—Freddy pulled a whole pile of records off the table on Friday, and, my dear, you should have seen the wreck- age. Nine records were broken. Oh, yes, I punished him, but I don't have to do it often. He's so very lient. I seldom even have to scold him. “Oh, Harry, I know it's my play. T merely wished to tell “WE'LL SHOW THEM THIS PHOTOGRAPH WHEN THEY GROW UP, Anne what a good boy Fred is. The idea! We're not making AND THEY'LL REALIZE THEY OWE US AN APOLOGY.” comicbooks.com