Life, 1920-11-04 · page 38 of 60
Life — November 4, 1920 — page 38: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a **title-writing contest** for a social scene illustration showing well-dressed people in a drawing room. Life magazine offered substantial prize money ($500-$200) for the cleverest caption describing the pictured situation—a common reader-engagement tactic of the era. The page also includes humorous etiquette advice titled "When Not to Arrive," satirizing the upper-class obsession with fashionable lateness. The writer mocks the pretension that arriving late to social events (tea, dinner parties, weddings, dances) demonstrates sophistication, while detailing absurd scenarios—arriving so late to a tea that you show up early for an unrelated dinner, or transferring a bridge game to a dance. At the bottom, "A False Proverb" jokes cynically that while the saying claims "you get out what you put in," the author has extracted "good things" from Life magazine without contributing anything—a self-deprecating jab at readers who enjoy the publication's content without submitting contest entries. The tone throughout is satirical upper-class social commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Copyright Life Pub. Co. -LIFE- WHAT IS THE BEST TITLE FOR THIS PICTURE? For the best title to the picture above, LIFE will award prizes as follows : First Prize, . . . Second Prizes. . . Third Prize. . . The contest will be governed by the fol- lowing RULES By “best” is understood that title which most cleverly describes the situa- tion shown in the picture. No title submitted shall consist of more than ten words. Hyphenated words will be counted as one. The contest is open to everybody. The contest is now open. It will close at noon on November 30, 1920. All titles should be addressed to the Contest Editor of Lire, Box 262, G. P. O., New York, N. Y. Envelopes should con- tain nothing but the competing title and $500.00 $300.00 $200.00 the name and address of the sender, plain- ly written, all on the same sheet. Titles will be judged by three members of Lire’s Editorial Staff, and their de- cision will be final. Titles may be original or may be a quo- tation from some well-known author. Contestants may send in more than one title. In case of ties the full amount of the prize will be given to each tying con- testant. The final award will be announced as early as possible after the close of the contest. Of this due notice will be given. Checks will be sent simultaneously with the announcements of the award. When Not to Arve ‘OR all parties, a good blanket rule is: Be late. A better rule yet is: Be later. The most superb rule of them all is: Be latest. That last, however, will be difficult to follow on account of severe compe- tition. But there is a limit, even to late- ness. For instance, if one is so late to a tea that the function is over, and one finds oneself arriving carly at a dinner at the same home to which one has not been invited, one’s entire effect is lost. And, mag- nificent as it may seem, it really is folly to arrive the following Mon- day for a week-end house party. To time arrival at a dinner party, determine the occupation of the hostess that afternoon. Divide the number of persons to be present by the probable edibleness of the first three courses. Subtract the possibilities of private stock. Add the chances of a dance afterwards. Sleep till overdue. Arrive with voluble excuses. At weddings, be late enough to rout the formation of the bridal procession up the aisle or otherwise confound the cere- thony by a bustling entrance. In case the wedding is personal, however, all rules are off. At dances, let one’s degree of lateness be determined by one’s personal inclina- tions. First, of course, play bridge until at least three hours late. Then, if fond of dancing, reach the party carly the next day; if hungry, by the supper dance. If not partial to dancing, merely transfer the bridge game to the dance, where one may be late enough to embarrass one’s hostess by demanding bridge equipment, when it is already all in use. With the spread of lateness as the mode, undreamed of flights of tardiness are laid open. One may be late for anything and everything. I once knew a very rich old lady who was even late in dying. At least cer- tain interested people seemed to feel so. A False Proverb “CYNE gets out of life just what one puts in it.” The maxim is hoary and likewise a fable; For many’s the good thing I've culled out of Lire, P NFIELD: book? CrassHaw: In the Dark What do you know about Bestseller’s new Nothing at all, I've merely read all the reviews While to get a thing in it I've never been able. of it. comicbooks.