Life, 1920-12-02 · page 63 of 97
Life — December 2, 1920 — page 63: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several brief humorous sketches satirizing domestic life and social pretense: **"The Common Touch"** mocks false intellectualism: a man named North praises another as intelligent and noble, then asks if his theory about women matches North's own—implying North likely has no serious theory, just prejudices he assumes others share. **"Experience"** jokes about an awkward dinner guest who claims prior dining experience at the host's home, subtly insulting the meal's quality. **The toy-shop exchange** satirizes childhood materialism and parental hypocrisy: a child plans to give an aunt air (worthless) as a gift in revenge for receiving a Bible—highlighting the clash between material desires and forced religious "improvement" gifts. **The dream sequence** depicts a boy's fantasy of receiving extravagant toys, mocking children's boastfulness about possessions. These sketches reflect 1920s concerns with class consciousness, social pretense, and consumer culture emerging post-WWI.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Becember 2, 1920 t. h y t Shopkeeper: Goopness! ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE THIS AIR : N TO YOUR AUNTY FOR CHRISTMAS? . “YES, DARN 'ER! I HEARD HER SAY SHE WUZ GOIN’ TO GIVE ME A BIBLE.” : n Experience - HE HOST: I'm afraid we haven't much of a dinner. 1 Tue Onseguious Guest: No apologies, old man. You 5 forget that I have dined here before. - ~ (Fn wad Fr A+AL. : | “WHAT DID SANTA CLAUS SAY WHEN YOU GAVE HIM MY 3 } LETTER?” The Common Touch ; ORTH: I'm glad 1 met Marsh; fine, noble fellow that! And such an intellect! West: So his theory about women agrees with yours? y \ if Wy A (IM ur Goce 9 SSS Lia WA rete er Perea Le Ce Lar ereee TELUS I “T SAW YOUR AD IN THE PAPER, MISTER, FOR A BRIGHT YOUNG THE DREAM OF THE SMALL BOY WHO BRAGGED ABOUT RECRIVING MAN TO DEMONSTRATE IN THE TOY DEPARTMENT” MORE PRESENTS THAN ANY OF HIS PLAYMATES comicbooks.com