Life, 1920-10-28 · page 13 of 46
Life — October 28, 1920 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon:** Shows two men in an office—one standing with a book, one seated. The caption presents a joke about book collecting: Bittler asks an older man how long he's been collecting his library, and the man replies he's been doing so for about two years, adding he didn't know the man had so many friends. **The Joke:** This is wordplay satire on social climbing. The implication is that Bittler is acquiring an impressive library not out of genuine intellectual interest, but as a status symbol to impress visitors and appear cultured. The older man's surprised comment about "so many friends" sarcastically suggests Bittler is buying books solely to gain social standing. **Overall Theme:** Mocking the pretentious use of book collections as markers of refinement among the wealthy or aspiring middle class.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Bilter (in his friend's den): “ WONDERFUL ! An All-Star Movie Miss Gerry and Mr. Lou, the Inseparables, in “A Romance of the Desert— The Camel's Revenge” IGHT fell hard on the desert. The Sphinx and Pyramids were there as usual, but getting tired of being photo- graphed. The Sphinx, especially, felt de- pressed. Suddenly, out of the Great Silence a line of horsemen, or camelmen, is sil- houetted against the horizon. This is merely local color, as they are really from New Jersey. Lady Phillys, daughter of an English earl, decides to take a stroll from Cairo, all by herself, to see how the desert looks at night, and she thoughtfully puts on a handsome evening dress for the occasion. An unprincipled and ungentlemanly Arab grabs her as she wanders alone, and drags her to his tent. There he hopes to terrify her by a wicked Oriental dance, but, as she is used to the shimmy, he ABOUT HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN COLLECTING THIS LIBRARY, OL) MAN? Whittler: on, avout TWo YEARS, THE KNoTHoLE | a TELEPHONE SS company b iwacens erner | Miss Turtle: 1 Ske YOU'RE ADVERTISING FOR TELEPHONE OPERATORS, IF THERE'S NO AGE LIMI ND YOU'RE NOT PARTICULAR ABOUT SPEED, 1'I THE POSITION 1 DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD SO MANY FRIENDS,” Later, as she ily camel of her fails in his fell design. shrieks for help, the old fa: the Sheik English in anguished cries. It stirs memories of a recognizes nobler time when he had been chief ca to Captain Sir Ian Malcolmn Worcest of the King’s Own (Mr. Fellegen), and at midnight he creeps into her tent to gnaw asunder her bonds. This done, she mounts the noble animal and makes her escape. Phillys rides out into the “Dawn of a New Day.” M.S. W. Last scene—Lady “I JUST got in from the Pacific Coast.” “You do look tired.” “Tam. Couldn't feel much worse if I had gone from Brooklyn to New Jersey.” HERE is much talk of government extravagance; but careful investiga- tion has failed to reveal any evidences of it in so far as the salaries of postal em- ployees are concerned. In this respect the government appears in the role of a tight- wad, not a spendthrift comicbooks.com