Life, 1921-10-27 · page 22 of 34
Life — October 27, 1921 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The page contains two distinct pieces from *Life* magazine's satirical humor section. **"Little Lessons for Little Minds"** is a brief joke illustrated at top: two college graduates (Parker and Hobbs) can't fathom why girls spend time with someone named Ingersoll despite his lack of college connections. The satire mocks the graduates' shallow social assumptions—they assume popularity requires campus prominence, missing that Ingersoll apparently has other appealing qualities. **"The Letters of Alicia"** is a humorous character sketch satirizing an upper-class, pretentious woman. Writing to a friend, Alicia describes getting a police dog following a recent "crime wave," but reveals her actual timidity while claiming "higher" moral rather than physical courage. She name-drops musical references (Tristan, Carmen) to appear cultured while admitting she plays simple pieces. The satire peaks when she plans to buy an expensive dog from her friend Ronnie at inflated price, calling it "friendship"—transparently exposing her self-deception about both refinement and financial relationships among the wealthy.
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Little Lessons for Little Minds Parker and Hobbs, those two prominent recent graduates, cannot understand how the girls can spend any time with Ingersoll, who knew practically nobody in college. This teaches us something, but we doubt if Parker and Hobbs will ever learn it. The Letters of Alicia Robert Barnes Rudd No. II EAREST, Well, anyway, that awful Crime Wave that everyone made such a fuss about last year has had one good result: 5 Garman) I’m going to have my Police Dog. Not that I’m timid. I really have a great deal ef courage. But mine is mental and moral courage rather than mere physical. What I mean is, I shouldn’t be able to lock a burglar up in the bathroom or anything, although I could reason with him through the door until the police came, if someone else locked him up first. You see, mine is really a higher sort of thing because Brute Force, darling, is nothing without moral courage behind it. I’m going to name my dog Brangwaine, out of Tristan, because I’m passionately fond of music and have been ever since I could play the Melody in F without my notes. Not that I’m particularly crazy about Tristan, except, of course, the Garden Scene, although just why everyone makes such a fuss about that I don’t know. But, anyway, it’s nof the Mcistersinger. It isn’t that I’m not devoted to music and opera and all that. I am... Carmen! on Monday night! My dear! . . . But I’m so terribly sensitive to anything the least bit esthetic that I just have to listen to music emo- tionally as well as intellectually, and it absolutely drags me all down... . I'm going to get one of Ronnie Muir’s dogs. The Great- Grandmother of the dog I’m going to get was related very closely by marriage to the Champion of Great Britain. . . . Ronnie says she isn’t a Show Dog exactly, but she has a perfect pedigree and he'll let me have her for $100 because T’m such a good friend. Isn’t Friendship a perfectly won- derful thing, darling? With ever and ever so much love, ALICIA, comicbooks.com