Life, 1921-09-29 · page 6 of 34
Life — September 29, 1921 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct sections: **"The Beauty Parlor Lizards" by Dorothy Parker** is a humorous essay satirizing women's obsession with cosmetic treatments and the beauty industry. Parker mocks the vanity of women who spend excessive time and money on appearance while ironically praising natural beauty. The tone is witty social commentary on 1920s-30s consumer culture and feminine vanity. **The cartoon below** depicts what appears to be a street scene with working-class figures. The caption reads "Gee, Tilly, ye gained ten pounds since dinner!" This is straightforward physical humor—a joke about someone's weight gain, typical of era comedy. The page represents Life magazine's blend of sophisticated satirical writing alongside accessible visual gags, reflecting the magazine's appeal to educated urban readers during the interwar period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“—if the people don’t like me the way Nature made me, then they'll just have to put up with me the best way they can, is what I always say. Men have no respect for these women that are all fixed up. But henna’s so good for the hair that it isn’t as if—” “saw her yesterday, right in broad daylight, and didn’t know her at first. Why, she looks fifteen years younger. I just felt like saying, ‘Well, it seems to me that’a woman of your age, with two married children, could have found something better to do than go have her face lifted.’ I would have said it, too, in another minute. I wonder if it’s very painful, and how much it would—” “no patience with these women who spend all their time fussing about their looks. All a woman needs is to look clean and wholesome, and have a sweet expression. Now if you'll just shape that other eyebrow, please, then Ull try some of that new liquid rouge. The Beauty Parlor Lizards DOROTHY PARKER And I'll be in on Tuesday at half-past four to have my—” “—looks about twenty years old, on the screen, but Mrs. Ebey—she lives in the apartment just across the way from us, and I do wish you could see her little telephone-doll—has a brother in the moving-picture business, and he knows for a fact that she’s forty-five, if she’s a day. Mrs. Ebey is going to find out from him what kind of skin food she uses, and let me know. Of course, .I think those things are all foolishness, and there’s nothing like good soap and water, but just the same—” “when I told them it was a perma- nent wave, they simply wouldn’t believe me. Said they never saw anything so natural in their life. So I’m just going to tell people that my hair is naturally curly, I don’t see any sense in giving away—” “—think there’s nothing prettier and more dignified than middle age. I just love gray hair, myself. If only it was becoming to me, I’d leave it that way in a minute, and never think of hay- ing it—” Household Hints To drive away aunts—use a second- hand flivver. To keep dust off furniture—cover it with canvas. To have your meals on time—get them yourself. To save gas—stop scolding. To keep servants good-natured— there’s nothing like changing them, To have things just the way you want them—live alone. Commonplace “I see Marconi has invented a ma- chine that will send five hundred words a minute.” “That's nothing; I married one.” “Gee, Tilly, ye gained ten pounds since dinner!” comicbooks.com