Life, 1921-10-20 · page 15 of 34
Life — October 20, 1921 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical cartoon series depicts a post office clerk's deteriorating patience with customers. The title "The Three Smile Limit: What We May Expect at the Post Office Under Mr. Hays" references Will H. Hays, likely postmaster general or a newly appointed official implementing efficiency reforms. The sequence shows a customer service interaction where the clerk maintains professional courtesy through three increasingly absurd customer requests (money orders, redirected windows, foreign currency exchanges). By the final panel, the clerk's patience is exhausted—he's literally fleeing in distress. The satire mocks new postal management's emphasis on efficiency and courtesy limits, suggesting that bureaucratic "smile quotas" for customer service are unrealistic and dehumanizing, ultimately backfiring when genuine human frustration emerges.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
October 20 The Three Smile Limit What We May Expect at the Post Office Under Mr. Hays “Hey, where’ do I cash a money-order?” “Well, well, I sure am pleased to meet you. And excuse my mentioning it but that is some suit. Just the thing for a young man. Money orders? Moved to window 69, corridor M.” “How do you do? Hope you're making your- self right at home here. Dear, dear, this is a foreign money order; you'll have to take it downtown. Frightfully sorry.” “Window 41, about half a mile down corridor B. Our Mr. Smith will take care of you nicely. Wife and the kiddies well? Oh, my mistake. Good day, sir.” “Dreadfully sorry, we don't cash them here, only issue them. Try window 112, up one flight. Warm, isn’t it, but if I may say so you're looking uncommonly well.” “Don't apologize, my dear sir; my mistake. I'm sorry to have taken up so much of your valuable time, but you've all given me a charming afternoon. Good day.” comicbooks.com