Life, 1920-08-26 · page 27 of 36
Life — August 26, 1920 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Life magazine article satirizes the chaos of American summer vacation culture, comparing modest Maine coastal resorts to fancy southern destinations. The page mocks the pretensions and mishaps of vacationing families through several vignettes: **The central joke**: Despite spending ten dollars daily (substantial money in this era), vacationers experience identical social embarrassments and disappointments whether on rocky Maine shores or sunny southern slopes—the location doesn't matter. **Key satirical targets**: - Newly arrived families awkwardly entering dining rooms, hoping their outsider status disappears - "The Miasma Sisters"—gossipy resort women who spread mud and negativity - A young woman named Gertie misbehaving scandalously (appearing in baby dresses, staying out late with men) - Young women acquiring male "escorts" for protection, examining jewelry with crude commentary The illustrations show families, children playing, and social interactions capturing the forced gaiety and underlying anxiety of resort life. The final caption—"The children—God bless them!"—suggests resigned acceptance of vacation chaos.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-LIFE. Ten Dollars a Day and Worse From the Rocky Coast of Maine to the Sunny Slopes—What’s the Difference ? At the Beach Stadium (open air—continuous per- formance): Gertie, the Infant Va Jazz Chorus; Sweetie and $ skitlet entitled “Kiss Me Again”; World's Greatest Child Comedian (assisted father's sunburned neck), and the artistic and refined crépe hangers An awful moment. The new family is on its way to its table. All activities in the dining-room have temporarily stopped until the quartette, somewhat embarrassed but quite hopeful, is safely seated. The newness, the embarrassment and the hopefulness will all disappear eventually—the first two in the course of time, and the third in the course of the first meal. The Miasma sisters—guar- dian angels of all good little summer resorts. They hold the world’s record, standing or sitting, for throwing mud . F Their combined hammer work During her stay, Gertie will is little short of phenomenal do everything a nice young Either from awe or profes- lady shouldn't. This includes sional courtesy, even the most appearing in baby dresses at depraved mosquitoes refuse the hotel masquerade and to bite them. staying out in the moonlight until all hours with the fasci- nating gentleman who is ex- pecting (though not antici- pating) his faithful spouse on Saturday. The Girls are acquiring a lin things who have this moment arrived, havin tored down for the week-end. They ‘are d merely for protection rather than for tion as may or may not come in handy yes! “It looks like a four-dollar Phyllis. Rather crude work, you'll agree; less, it has its fine points. The children—God bless them! comicbooks.com