Life, 1921-09-08 · page 19 of 36
Life — September 8, 1921 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **satirical humor page** from Life magazine featuring six absurd fictional inventions, all presented as solutions to everyday annoyances of the 1920s era. The jokes rely on exaggeration and impracticality: - A **ladies' comb with detachable tools** (cigarette holder, tire tool, ice pick) mocks women's purses and the era's expectation that women carry everything - A **lightning-bug rear light** for drunk poker players satirizes Prohibition-era drinking and men's carelessness - An **ear-guard for watermelon eating** plays on messy eating - A **boiler-plate blanket** references Prohibition's dangerous homemade alcohol ("home-brew") that could explode - A **talking collar-button** is pure nonsense—a phonograph in a button - A **mechanical foot to kick out landlords** jokes about eviction and rent collection The overall satire targets 1920s social anxieties: Prohibition, women's changing roles, drinking culture, poverty, and domestic mishaps. The humor assumes readers recognize these as deliberately impractical "solutions" to real problems.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
September 8 With apologies to Poeun Novel Inventions for the Home COMBINATION LADIES’ COMB AND TOOL REAR LIGHT FOR WALKING ON DARK CHEST ROADS The Prongs of the Comb Are Equipped With Detachable Tooth- When Coming Home Late From a Poker Party, Imprison brush, Cigarette-Holder, Powder Puff, Tire Tool, Perfume a Lightning Bug in the Lamp, and You Will Bottle, Fountain Pen and Shoe Horn, For Ladies Trav- Not Have to Worry About Your Trousers eling in Drinking Circles, a Bottle Opener and Being Ruined by a Passing Automobile Ice Pick May Be Added ALUMINUM EAR-GUARDS INGENIOUS BOILER-PLATE BLANKET A South Bend Genius Has Perfected This This Metal Bedcover and Headpiece Was Invented to Protect the Innocent Arrangement So That the Ears Are = Sleeper From Harm in Case the Home-Brew Exploded Fully Protected While Eating Watery in the Middle of the Night melon. This Invention Also In- sures a Minimum Loss of mel, SIMPLE LANDLORD REMOVER When the Landlord Comes Around on the First of the THE TALKING COLLAR-BUTTON Month, All You Have to Do Is to Pull the Lever The Head of the Collar-Button Contains a Miniature Phonograph and Start the Mechanical Foot in Operation. He Record and Wireless Receiver. As Soon as Button Drops Will Not Bother You Any More Until He to Floor, Owner Starts Electric Current Which, Gets Out of the Hospital. Then When it Reaches Collar-Button, Causes it You Can Repeat the Process, to Say, “Here I Am” if Necessary comicbooks.com