Life, 1920-09-23 · page 27 of 40
Life — September 23, 1920 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical comic strip mocks Prohibition-era bootlegging. Two men (A and B) communicate in hushed whispers and sibilant sounds ("psst," "shh") as they navigate a comical quest to find illegal alcohol—a "snifter" (drink). The humor traces their increasingly elaborate journey: they whisper directions, travel by car and boat, climb a hill, and finally reach a ramshackle shack. The owner's punchline—"Nothing doing till next week"—deflates their entire effort. The title "Love's Labor Lost" (Shakespeare reference) emphasizes the wasted energy spent circumventing Prohibition laws. The comic satirizes how widespread and absurd bootlegging had become, with ordinary citizens engaging in elaborate, secretive schemes simply to obtain alcohol. The exaggerated whispering and tiptoeing mock both the conspiratorial atmosphere Prohibition created and the futility of the endeavor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A tells B he knows where they can geta snifter Aj ] J RIES “H-s-h!” “P-s-s-s-s-t!"" A says to B> A says to B,- gs A says to B,- | And now they're “Hes-s “g-s-hI" nearing their goal Owner of shack A says,- Says to A andB “P-s-s-s-s-t!”|] “Nothin : doing till, next weel B says,- “H-s-s-s-s-h!”// Love’s Labor Lost comicbooks.com