Life, 1920-08-19 · page 17 of 40
Life — August 19, 1920 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several satirical pieces typical of early 20th-century American humor: **"Summer Girl"** (Hervey Allen poem): A romantic parody listing exaggerated compliments about a young woman's beauty while ironically acknowledging scandalous rumors about her character—satire of shallow courtship rhetoric. **"Appreciation"**: Mocks literary pretension. An "Imagist" poet is horrified when someone recites his poetry from memory, only to discover they've memorized the *table of contents* instead. The joke: his avant-garde work is so obscure and fragmented it's indistinguishable from a random list. **"Life's Little Campaign Speeches"**: Political satire showing a candidate's spokesman giving an empty speech. When asked a specific question, he responds only with the buzzword "Americanism"—mocking politicians' tendency toward vague patriotic rhetoric instead of substantive answers. **"True to Form"** and the servant dialogue: Humor about domestic employment and social class expectations. The cartoons and sketches accompanying these pieces provide visual accompaniment to the satirical themes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Summer Girl ‘OUR blush is like the rose, dear, That blooms, of course, in June; But, quite unlike the rose, dear, It does not fade so soon, Your lips are red as corals, Your teeth are little pearls; Those libels on your morals Are told by envious gir! Your eyes are azure stars, dear, That shine, of course, at night, They say your heart is cold, dear; Your breast is snowy white. Not one can hold a candle, Of all the other girls, To you. What of the scandal? I love your hair. It curls! Hervey Allen, Appreciation, “J ADMIRE your latest volume of verses very much, indeed!” “Oh, yes? "Yes, particularly the first one in the ho Let me recite it to you to replied the Imagist. prove how I have enthused over it suficiently to learn it by heart: “When I give you toy balloons There is no other Fire out of amethyst— “Wait cried the Imagist. But the enthusiast would not wait ‘Green beetles on Fifth Avenue; Skies that bend; \ soft mist hides the sea—"” LIFE’S Little Campaign Speeches “Stop!” yelled the Imagist. “That's Good Any Time, Anywhere. Keep One on Hand for Use in a poem. You have been reciting Emergencies table of contents!” The Chauffeur: 3-s-sAv! WHY vON’T You PUT ON VER CHAINS? ‘OU have asked me, friends, how the candidate whom I have the honor to represent stands upon this great question, the greatest of all the great questions before the people to-day, You have indicated a commendable desire for enlightenment, a desire to know, a desire to be told, that implies deep and full appreciation of your responsibility as arbiters of our great nation’s destiny, I respect that desire to know; and because I respect it and because our candidate is unequivocally specific and exact in his pronouncement upon that great issue, 1 can answer your well-founded and well-phrased question in a word Your spokesman has asked me to define our candidate's position upon this great question, And I say to him and to you that his position is summed up in one word, and that word is “ Americanism"! ( Pause.) Upon that rock, and upon that rock alone, does he stand, the hope of this people in this generation! True to Form “AO,” said the mistress in the happy old days when servants applied for work, “T haven't work enough for another girl.” was the reply, “you might just try me, ma'am. Sure, it don't take very much work to keep me busy, ma'am!” Howaro: Cook left to-day on account of our having éompany. Jay: How long did your guests stay? AT THE END OF HIS ROPE Howarp: They arrive to-morrow. comicbooks.com