Life, 1920-11-18 · page 18 of 44
Life — November 18, 1920 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine contains several standalone satirical comics and humorous pieces typical of early-to-mid 20th century American humor: **"Oh, That Woman!"** — A poem by Katharine Eggleston Roberts satirizes "Mrs. Grundy," a stock character representing rigid social morality and gossip. The joke: respectable women spreading rumors after church undermine the very Gospel values they claim to uphold. **The telephone cartoon** mocks the gap between technological progress and practical reality — New York has enough wire to reach the moon, yet basic local calls fail. **Safe deposit/refrigerator joke** — A wealthy woman stores securities in a refrigerator, satirizing either absent-mindedness or absurd wealth-management. **Golf and other cartoons** employ standard humor: the incompetent golfer, the "two-way man on a one-way street" (someone overestimating his importance), and marital dynamics (a man avoiding self-improvement to escape his wife's errands). The page represents genteel, middle-class humor targeting vanity, pretension, and social absurdity — typical *Life* magazine fare.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Oh, That Woman! = you want to know a woman Who can play a game of tag With Truth until it’s spent beyond repair, Who can start a thousand rumors, Set ten thousand tongues a-wag Till there's nothing left of Gospel in the air, Who can get you into trouble And your reputation smirch— It’s Mrs. Grundy On a Sunday When she’s walking home from church. Katharine Eggleston Roberts. GENTLEMAN of sstatistical bent has figured that there is enough tele- phone wire in use in the city of New York to stretch around the earth, then through space to the moon, around it, and back to the earth, twenty-one times. And having figured all that out, he goes to the telephone, attempts to call a friend in the next block, and—“ Hello! Hello! Hello—” AFE DEPOSIT keep your securities now, sir? “In the refrigerator.” “HAVEN'T YOU ANY SETS WITH PULLMAN CARS? MY CLARENCE WOULD NEVER: BE HAPPY PLAYING WITH COM- MON DAY-COACHES” REPRESENTATIVE: Very Bad Golf Player (to professional): IF 1 PLAY THIS APPROACH WITH A BACK SPIN, WILL THE BALL DROP DEAD? Professional: No, SiR; BUT I WILL, Where do you Anticipatory ADGE: Why did you tell me you were going to vote that way, when you know you favor the other candidate? Maxyorie: I allowed for changing my mind Too Big for His Path in Life He has a pretty good opinion of himself. Yes, he thinks he is a two-way man on a one- :WITT: Jewett: way street “CAN 1 INTEREST YOU IN THIS LITTLE BOOK ON HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR MEMORY?” “ HEAVENS, NO! IF 1 HAD A GOOD MEMORY MY WIFE WOULD KEEP ME BUSY DOING ERRANDS.” I'M SURE comicbooks.g¢om