Life, 1920-12-02 · page 92 of 97
Life — December 2, 1920 — page 92: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Life magazine page (circa 1920s) contains satirical humor about Christmas anxieties and consumer culture: **"Directions for Spending a Quiet Christmas Eve"** is the main cartoon humor—a deadpan parody of safety guides. It absurdly escalates holiday precautions: bolting doors, soldering ornaments to trees, riveting children to mantels, installing anti-bomb devices, and distributing riot guns to family members. The satire mocks paranoia about burglars and "government inspectors," reflecting post-WWI anxiety about radicalism and property crime. **The political joke**: A brief dialog between "Mrs. Dorcas" and "Mrs. Sprite" about keeping men out of offices via voting (women's suffrage was recent), undercut by women competing against each other—satirizing feminist divisions. **The advertisements** promote Vogue magazine subscriptions and various products (Strongfort fitness, Cuticura samples, Cortez cigars), reflecting the magazine's advertising-heavy format. The overall tone mocks upper-class Christmas paranoia, consumer anxiety, and contemporary social tensions in the Jazz Age.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- CHRISTMAS LIFE - 1072 "ARE YOUR NERVES JAZZED? Axe you a trembling, timid, hesitating fellow whose nerves are shattered and jangling? Is your body weakened by disease, unre- tponsive and inefficient? Are you one of whose whole outlook on life is dark | and hopeless? If +0, Lean make of you | areal man—a virile, vigorous, courageous, fF manly man, if you will take the course [7 in STRONGFORTISM which | can | give you in the privacy of your own home, without apparatus, or inconven- ience, without drugs or medicines. MY FREE BOOK jon and Conservation of Health, Mental Energy,”’ tells you how to Prom resin machood. lt health: and strength. Send 2 Ie piece !fce postage, etc.—and read this wonderful book. LIONEL STRONGFORT Physical and Health Specialist Dept. 173 Newark, Directions for Spending a Quiet Christmas Eve LOSE all doors and windows; bolt 1 lock them securely. Adjust anti-bomb device on front door- step. Nail the tree to the parlor floor and solder the ornaments securely upon it. After filling, rivet the children’s stock- s to the mantelpiece and bind each with a length of live, high-tension (Note: Care should first be taken in the little ones to their beds, cannot get up in the mornin: the current is turned If you haven't a watchdog, charter a d for the nigh strong bloodh nd rm him loose in the front yard. gifts from the vaults places move I family and arrange them in their proper Tries Free Samples Soap, Ointment, Taleum, tie, everywhere. Sam; free of Cuticure’ es Dope 7, Malden, Mase OF BRAINS GARS -MADE AT KEY WEST.— 7; MEN 1 about the tree. Adjust automatic alarm and signal system. Finally, unlock the family arsenal and distribute the riot guns, service rifles, automatics and siege guns among the members of the household who are quick on the trigger. Be sure that they are loaded—that is, the guns, You may now go to bed in your heavily insured, bullet-proof sleeping-suit com- forted in the thought that no burglar or government inspector can touch you. A Dark Future RS. DORCAS: ballot we can keep the men out of the offices. “Mrs. Sprite: Yes—if we don’t have to let the other women have them, Now we have the TEM by Daisy, the child authoress: Children can be very helpful to their mothers. I once clipped a perfectly lovely recipe out of a magazine which told how to make housework easier. Regurs’ Poiret took seal brown velvet, red Chinese lacquer b and the demurest o; 7 ruches to make this unusual frock with its medieval detach- ment denied by that ultra- dern roll of the material around its ample skirt. This is just one of the interesting— nd quite di — models n in every issue of Vogue. * SPECIAL OFFER 7 $2 ‘Invested in Vogue a tiny fraction of your loss on a single ill-chosen gota Will Save You $200 This year, above all others, when extravagance a waste are to be avoided, you should have Vogue hand. For now every woman must devote even mo than her customary care to the selection of her w. robe, so that not one hat, gown or wrap may remai unworn and its price wasted. The gown you buy and never wear is the really expend gown. Gloves, boots, hats, that miss being exactly what 39 want, are the ones that cost you more than you can afford. VOGUE suggests that before you spend another penny on» clothes, before you even plan your wardrobe, you consult great Winter and Spring Fashion numbers. HERE ARE THE | () NUMBERS OF voct WHICH YOU WILL RECEIVE FOR $2 * Eleven if you mail the coupon now +*Christmas Gifts December 1 Extra complimentary copy) solution 0 Christmas ‘as and sug- Holiday Number December 15 More gifts and practical kteas for holiday entertaining. Lingerie and Vanity January 1 Fine linen for personal use and for th schol. Pet extravagance, of the smart woman, New York Fashions March ‘The most characteristic thine, New York creates for its act chieatele, Spring Fashions and Brides ‘The loveliest number cf the © Motor and Southern January 15 every west ‘The new fashions in motor clothes x ind ‘the wardrote fur the ‘South Spring Fabrics and Patterns February 1 est fabrics, and wo for your ‘spring ai rdrobe. t of Spring Fashions F Karllest authentic styles, fully illus models. Smart Fashions for Limited Incomes First aid to th ef vot unlit shionsl In the next few months, during the very period in whi Vogue's special Fashion Numbers appear, you will be sel your entire wardrobe for the coming Winter and Spring, spending hundreds of dollars for the suits, hats, gowns # accessories that you select. Consider then, that for $2, a tiny fraction of your loss on ill-chosen hat or gown, you may secure eleven issues of Vop —an assurance of valuable and new ideas and an insu against costly failures. TO NEW SUBSCRIBERS ONLY We're sorry to have to differentiate between new and friends, but the high cost of everything necessitates our ing this introductory offer to new subscribers only. If ¥ aren't getting Vogu dvice, and would like to economize # season—and enjoy 1 you have to do is to sign the cou —now! subecription price $6 @ weer (24 istucr). comicbooks.com