Life, 1921-07-28 · page 27 of 34
Life — July 28, 1921 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate satirical sketches commenting on women's fashion and social behavior circa early 1900s. The top cartoon jokes about a young woman (Elsie) disappointing her uncle by not adopting "long dresses"—formal adult women's wear—suggesting she remains girlish despite maturation. The bottom-left sketch implies an artist mistook one woman (Lizzie Smith) for another (Mabel), apparently due to similar appearance or dress. The bottom-right cartoon references "Central" (a telephone switchboard operator) sending police, likely because a woman's unconventional behavior—possibly related to her dress or public conduct—warranted police intervention. The sketch appears to satirize both women's changing social roles and the shocked responses they provoked from authorities and society.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Very Little Difference Elsie: Have I changed much, Uncle Jack? “Not so much as I thought you would. I expected to find you in long dresses.” The Artist: It ain’t you, Mabel—it’s Lizzie Smith. Why Central sent the Police. comicbooks.com