Life, 1921-04-07 · page 30 of 38
Life — April 7, 1921 — page 30: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine contains several short satirical pieces and poems typical of early 20th-century humor: **"The Match Box"** is a philosophical poem comparing life stages to matches—youth as kindling fire, age as searching for a spent candle. **"Another Outline of History"** mocks cheap dance academies advertising "toddle" lessons by sarcastically crediting Cleopatra with inventing the dance to seduce Napoleon—absurd historical conflation for comic effect. **The cartoon** depicts a woman telling a man she sent her "set" to England for a year, with the friend remarking she must speak English well and has become an egotist—likely a joke about affectation gained abroad. **"Taking Chances"** is a humorous anecdote about a man asking a railroad to silence its whistle because it prevents his pastor from preaching—satire on both religious obsession and absurd complaints. The page concludes with promotional material for upcoming special *Life* issues targeting wives, husbands, and lovers, using lighthearted copy to solicit subscriptions. The overall tone is genteel, urbane satire aimed at educated readers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Match Box Life is a Match Box, and the Matches Ambitions, and unstruck desires Youth the material that catches And kindles in the darkness fires. And Love is like an idle fellow Who sets the match box in a blaze, And sees the blue flames and the yellow Shoot up and die beneath his gaze. But Age is like a man returning Late homeward. Creeping in his socks He tries to get a candle burning, And finds he has an empty box. —Westminster Gazette. Another Outline of History The “professors” of cheap dancing academies in the tenderloin are now adver- tising lessons in toddling. One sends out a circular which reads: “Learn to dance the toddle! the way she ensnared Napoleon.” —Atlanta Constitution. ~ “THEY SAY HE IS GOING TO GET MARRIED,” Cleopatra invented it and that was “gy, you KNOW WHAT EVIL TONGUES PEO- PLE HAVE.” —Le Journal Amusant (Paris). Taking Chances The railroad official invited the ster) citizen to communicate his troubles, “T want you to give orders,” demande the visitor, “that the engineer of the press which passes through Elm Grove x 11:55 be restrained from blowing his whist, Sunday mornings.” “Impossible!” exploded the —_officia) “What prompts you to make such a fidiy. lous request?” “Well, you see,” explained the citizen fs an undertone, “our pastor preaches un) he hears the whistle blow and that os founded express was twenty minutes ht| last Sunday.”"—Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oh, I Say! Frencn GeNTLeman : to England for a year. Friexo: He must have an admirable command of the language. “And what an egotist he has become!’ —L'Illustration (Paris), Knowledge Most of the things you think you kee are only things told you by somcone whi was told by somebody else who heard it. —Detroit Free Press. Yes, I sent my set Lire is published every Thursday, simultaneously in the United States, Great Britain, Canada and British Possessions, Title registered in U. S. Patent Office. $5.00 a year in advance. Additional postage to foreign countries in the Postal Union, $1.60 a year; to Canada, 80 cents. Single current copies, 15 cents. Back numbers, after three months from date of publication, 25 cents. Issues prior to 1910 out of print. The text and illustrations in Live are copyrighted. For Reprint Rights Britain apply to Lire, Rolls House, Breams Buildings, Fetter London, E. C., England. The foreign trade supplied from Live’s London Office, Rolls Hou, Breams Buildings, London, E. C. Canadian distributor, J. R. Tanguay, 386-388 St. James Street, Montreal, Canada. No contributions will be returned unless accompanied by stamped and addressed envelope. Live does not hold itself responsible for the lou @ non-return of unsolicited contributions, Notice of change of address should reach this ofice two weeks prin to the date of issue to be affected. Have You Ever Been in Love? T is a commonly accepted — the axiom that you fall in love first, get married afterwards, and then (as the case may be) spend the rest of your life in acquiring children and dogs and playing golf. We are taking the liberty (because we dare) to reverse the opening part of this program. So our Wives’ Number is coming first, to be followed by the last word in a Husbands’ Number, these in turn to be succeeded by a Lovers’ Num- ber, after which the children and dogs will be presented. And these are only a few of the special numbers coming in impulse? special this rate. immediate future. you resist obeying that Spring And the Other Coming Numbers They will amaze you. Many numbers to be an- nounced later. Meanwhile why not begin Special Offer For the small Dollar (Canadian $1.20, For- eign $1.40), Lire will be sent for three months—12 issues— to any address. open only to new subscribers; no subscriptions sum of One Can the Spring right—Obey that Impulse—and send in your subscription now, according to the terms in the atrocious cou- pon that the Business Office insists upon inserting on this page? We issue this invitation for you to subscribe, however, without any regard for the feelings of the aforesaid Busi- ness Office. If we didn’t think Lire was going to be good, we woitldn’t ask you to subscribe anyway. This offer is yey: renewed at 173 LIFB, 17 W. 318t Street, N. Y. One Ye 00, (Canadian, $5.80; Your eres $6600 comicbooks.com