Life, 1921-07-28 · page 8 of 34
Life — July 28, 1921 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two separate pieces of satirical commentary on early 20th-century American life. **"If Boys Had Their Way"** (top four panels, drawn by A.B. Frost) depicts humorous scenarios imagining a world without parental/societal constraints: boys avoiding dentists, ceasing shyness, abandoning bath time, playing rough without consequences. The satire gently mocks boyish behavior while implicitly endorsing adult supervision and social norms. **"When Chess Provokes Baseball Enthusiasm"** (bottom section) appears to be a chess match commentary where players use chess terminology mixed with baseball slang and exclamations. The satire likely jokes about how different sports attract overlapping enthusiast communities, with their distinct vocabularies colliding amusingly. Both pieces represent *Life*'s characteristic lighthearted social observation humor, targeting American middle-class life and cultural habits.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
~ ep AZO # le = eS go PRE, Drawn by A. B. Frost If Boys Had Their Way (CHOOL teachers’ salaries would not be a disgrace to our communities—there would be no school. Mothers would not have to scold about the holes in the knees of stockings time and again—boys would not wear stockings. There would be no necessity of a bribe to make them submit to the dentist—dentists as such would not exist. Cheeky patrons would not be able to forge ahead of others in the waiting-line at the movie box-office—there would be no box-office. Boys would cease to shy at bath-tubs on Saturday nights— bath-tubs would be abolished. No dog would stoop to-making an embarrassing play for sympathy by following one through the streets—every dog would have a home. Farmers would not have to waste time guarding their apple orchards with a shotgun—all orchards would be public prop- erty. Whimpering and pleading to stay up a little while longer after nine o’clock would never occur in any household—there would be no such thing as “bed-time.” Shop-keepers would never be out ten or fifteen dollars on account of windows broken with baseballs—windows would be made indestructible. Boys would never sulk and complain about the fit of made- over pants—fathers would wear their pants out themselves. Grown-up sisters would not have to worry on callers’ nights that younger brothers were outside, eavesdropping— a young brother would be accorded a listening-post under the sofa for such occasions. There would be no asking for a second and third piece of cake at dinner—everybody would get a whole cake in the first place. Edmund J. Kiefer. When Chess Provokes Baseball Enthusiasm Rzeschewski at Bat, Capablanca on Third TTABOY, Sam... knock his bishop for a gool... look out, Cappy ... watch his queen... use yer pawns, use yer pawns! ...c’mon, take a lead . .. down with his rook .. . down with his rook... hey! get away from that horse’s head ... look out for that queen c’mon now, Cappy, we wanna checkmate . . . hit that ki on the nose, Rzeschewski ... yea-a-h-h... that queen... use yer pawns ... look ’em over, Sammie . . . givvem the old Ruy Lopez . . . c’mon, Capablanca . . . down with his rook ... look out now ... look out for that queen... there ya go... look out ... look out... look out . . . castle, ya big Swede . . . caaastle! H.W. H. Th comicbooks.com