Life, 1920-12-16 · page 31 of 45
Life — December 16, 1920 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate humorous pieces typical of early 20th-century Life magazine: 1. **Top cartoon**: A domestic scene where a child complains about being forced to bathe because his sister manipulated the calendar. The humor lies in childhood resistance to hygiene. 2. **"Getting Down to Earth"**: Two brief jokes about aviators—one comparing a clergyman's sermon to difficult airplane landings (implying the sermon was hard to follow), the other about a real-estate agent's pitch about Florida orange groves. These mock both religious oratory and land-sales hype. 3. **"A Story with a Happy Ending"**: A satirical romance where two people meet, fall in love briefly, but then forget each other due to life's distractions. The ironic title mocks sentimental romance stories by showing love's impermanence. 4. **"LIFE's Title Contest"**: A meta-joke about the magazine's own picture-title competition, humorously noting the judges are slow while asking readers not to rush them. The overall tone is gently satirical about American life, romance, and commercialism.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“ B00-00! SISTER'S TORE TWO DAYS OFF THE CALENDAR AN’ MADE IT SATURDAY, AN’ NOW TLL HAVE TO TAKE A BATH!” Getting Down to Earth IRST AVIATOR: Rev. T. Bunkum’s sermon this morning contained many good lessons Seconp Aviator: Yes; among others, it illustrated the difi- culty of making a satisfactory landing. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL MOMENT Real-Estate Agent: yes, SiR, WE HAVE ON OUR LIST AT A BARGAIN PRICE ONE OF THE PINEST ORANGE GROVES IN FLORID A Story with a Happy Ending SHE was twenty, attractive and well dressed; 1 some and athletic. was hand She turned an ankle and fell while crossing the park; he solicitously approached and helped her a She gave a friendly smile; he engaged her in conversation They dined together, and across the table he vowed to him- self he never saw girl more divine; she sighed and thought “Ah, here’s a man I could love.” He escorted her home, and they parted lingeringly at door, with a final hand-clasp full of meaning. . Time passed swiftly, and he forgot telephone number in the swirl of work and_ pleasure thought of him for a week and a day, but with the com Alas, Romance! years she never saw him a And they both lived happily ever after. LIFE’S Title Contest HE. $1,000.00 picture-title contest, which closed November oth, is nearing the final stage The judges, working under forced draft, are making great progress. We should like to get some definite i from them, but we don't like to disturb them. nation The judges promise to let us know in advance when they will he ready to announce their decision comicbooks.com