Life, 1920-11-11 · page 35 of 44
Life — November 11, 1920 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page mixes advertising with satirical commentary on Korean bureaucracy. The main satire (left column) mocks absurd regulations imposed on Christian missionaries in colonial Korea, particularly at Pyengyang. The story describes how authorities, citing a rule requiring cuspidors in "public places," classified a kindergarten as such and forced the mission to install them. When the school later tried to relocate to a vacant building, officials refused permission because a teacher's removal certificate from the previous class was never filed—despite that teacher being long gone. The joke targets rigid, nonsensical bureaucratic obstruction that prioritizes paperwork over practical reality, leaving schoolchildren waiting in overcrowded conditions. The right side advertises Whitman's chocolates and other products (Lablache powder, Washington coffee), typical of Life's mixed content model. The satire reflects early 20th-century Western frustrations with colonial administrative red tape.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
BLAC A clove “A. Quality Group Those to the manor born sense the quality Lablache—the powder supreme. i tt wears best and is closely 1 AID ~ 1 c Xe) A dainty toilet for dainty women who really care ; . for their complexion. ¥ 33 A Quaiity Group of Whitman's pack- beta Sass Dy ages is shown here to illustrate that the Whitman reputation rests not upon any one package, but upon a number of Freach Perfumers, De \ Y assortments presenting the same high Vcdeoaes beter standard of excellence. Perhaps you know Whitman's best Koreans the right to kill their de through the celebrated Sampler. You they wanted to, without asking the police will like to realize that precisely the about it same quality of sweets are put in the A regulation passed not long ago re- differing assortments on this page. Some quired that cuspidors he put in all public of the actual pieces in the Sampler places. At Wonju the authorities ruled e; ese other package: that kindergartens came under the head appear also in these other packages. of “public places” as referred to in the The sweet-tooth likes variety as well ordinance, therefore the mission kinder- - s ‘ as quality. The Whitman agent near garten was obliged to install cuspidors r you has all these packages and you will find each one meets a real demand from class into a small vacant building owned candy lovers. by the mission. Since a school cannot aay, ~arri| STEPHEN F. WHITMAN & SON, Inc., even buy chalk or erasers without per- ‘ Fok seal Philadelphia, U.S. A. mission, it was of course necessary to eee St saahors of W ibman’s isi ‘Chats obtain the consent of the police. “But y ‘s - Cocoa and Marshmallow Whip A Christian school in Pyengyang, coming overcrowded, wished to move a this building to which you wish to move 7 % is occupied,” said the official to whom ap- plication was made. “No, you are mis- taken,” replied the missionary; “a class was held there some time ago, but it has been given up, and the teacher has moved to another part of the country. The building has been vacant for more than a year.” s the teacher failed to ob- tain her certificate of removal, the place is theoretically occupied,” declared the officer. “ You cannot move your children into a building where a class is already being held.” In vain did the missionary Protest that the house was vacant. The other teacher, now in a remote part of the country, was obliged to file a lengthy document, asking for permission to move Made in the Cup at the Table—The Easier Kind of Coffee from a building which ste had not even Economical—No Waste—Healthful—Delicious by seen for more than twelve months. After G, Washington Sales Co., Ine., $22 Fifth Avenue, New York Z weeks of waiting, the Pyengyang Trial Size 10c issionary went to police headquarters ~~ Recipe : to learn what was causing the delay. She Teva \, Booklet Free > was told that the building plans accom- db 3 panying the request for removal permis- _ en B sion had been incorrectly drawn, and that the petition had been refused. Another < O F F E E . j 34 weighty document is therefore being pre- pared, while in the meantime a class of children wait in overcrowded quarters for permission to move to a vacant build- comicbooks.com