Life, 1921-07-28 · page 3 of 34
Life — July 28, 1921 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes objects disguised to appear more fashionable or modern than they actually are. The poem mocks how everyday items are decorated deceptively: a telephone styled like a doll, a doorstop disguised as a cat, a shoehorn painted with flowers, and electrical fixtures camouflaged as candles and ribbons. The accompanying illustration shows a child encountering a cow, with the caption "Your mother's calling you." The joke appears to be visual wordplay—the child mistakes the cow for something else, or the "masquerade" theme extends to the unexpected rural encounter. The satire critiques early 20th-century consumer culture's tendency to disguise mundane household items with ornamental styling, suggesting superficial modernization over genuine innovation or utility.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Masqueraders se telephone looks like a dolly; The decanter resembles a book; ‘The doorstop’s a cat, and so lifelike at that, . I have always to stop for a look. The shoehorn is painted with flowers; The whiskbroom’s disguised as a fan; The canary’s pagoda is made in the mode a Mechanic might choose in Japan. The phonograph’s carved like a coffer From some ancient baronial hall; There’s a patent intention no modern in- vention Shall look as if modern at all. The electrics are camouflaged candles; And fringes and ribbons the rule: But we bear it and sigh, her mother and I, Till Betty’s back safely in school. Wex Jones. mother’s calling you.” comicbooks.com