Life, 1921-06-30 · page 11 of 41
Life — June 30, 1921 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top illustration depicts military or naval officers on a ship's deck encountering a woman, with the caption: "There's the Rock of Gibraltar—But where is the advertisement?" This appears to be satirizing the era's ubiquitous advertising culture. The joke suggests that even iconic landmarks like Gibraltar couldn't escape commercialization—implying advertisers had colonized every possible space, even natural wonders and travel destinations. The woman's question humorously inverts expectations: instead of admiring the famous rock formation, she notices the *absence* of an advertisement, suggesting advertising had become so pervasive that its absence was noteworthy. Below are poems and literary pieces, including "The Tale of a Shirt" and various social commentary verses, typical of Life's satirical content targeting contemporary society and manners.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
re and mb “THERE’S THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR.” “BUT WHERE IS THE ADVERTISEMENT?” The Tale of a Skirt (With a low bow to Tom Hood) \YiTE fingers callous and stained, With eyelids bleary and red, A writer sat ina blue burnous, On the edge of a double bed. Scrate!i—scratch—scratch, He scribbled his story of dirt, Ina manner that Mrs. Glyn can’t match, He wrote e Tale of a Skirt. Sex—sox—sex In words most suggestively vile, And sex—sex—sex In the latest Freudian style; Line and chapter and verse, Ve nd chapter and line, each chapter worse Than the swiniest kind of swine. Sex—sex—sex, Men with other men’s wives; Sex Leading super-crotic lives. Drinking—cards—divorce, Jewels and parties gay, With no more brains than a horse, No dress but a negligée. With fingers callous and,stained, With eyelids bleary and red, A writer sat in a blue burnous, On the cdge of a double bed. Scratch—scratch—scratch, He scribbled his story of dirt, In a manner that Mrs. Glyn can’t match, He wrote “The Tale of a Skirt.” —Percy Waxman. Now It Can Be Told HILDREN should be seen and not heard.—Jackie Coogan. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. —Big Bill Haywood. There's no place like home—Babe Ruth, Two is company, three’s a crowd.—J. A. Stillman Still waters run deep.—a. J. Volstead. It is more blessed to give than to re- ceive.—Jack Dempsey. Off Broadway HE DUCK: Hello, Henry, I hear that you married a theatrical woman. Tue Rooster: Yes, I married a girl who was with the poultry show. ‘O cigar is so bad that sooner or later it won't meet its match. comicbooks.com