Life, 1921-11-03 · page 33 of 34
Life — November 3, 1921 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous poem satirizing the trivial but genuine annoyances of everyday life. Harris catalogs the tedious morning ritual of putting on shoes—the shoeing horn, lacing eyelets, drawing laces through with "weary thrust and drag," and tying two bow-knots. The satire lies in treating these mundane tasks with the dramatic language of genuine suffering ("woe is me," "malison," "dree this weary blight"). It's mock-heroic complaint about petty inconveniences, elevating shoe-lacing to tragic proportions. The final joke—a pun about a pup receiving a pedigree as a "present"—offers absurdist humor. The page also contains advertisements for Woodbury beauty products and the Carolina Hotel, typical of 1920s Life magazine content.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Toil HI, woe is me! Each dewy morn A And morns withouten dews I have to take my shoeing horn And ease into my shoes. And when I have them on my feet Still bitter is my cup, For, ere the blooming job’s complete I have to lace them up. Into each eyelet of each shoe I needs must guide each tag And draw the cursed laces through With weary thrust and drag. And when I have them fairly laced \\ith many a groan and sigh \nother task must then be faced: lwo bow-knots I must tie. My malison upon each lace! \ murrain on each knot! It seems to me not out of place The eyelets to dod-rot. Would that I never had been born To dree this weary blight, To have to lace those shoes each morn \nd take them off at night! Kennett Harris. “Has that pup got a pedigree?” “No, he was a present.” NORTH CAROLINA For more than a quarter century the happy meeting place for good-fellowship and true sport. New improvements and new attractions; while Hotel rates have been sub- stantially reduced. CAROLINA HOTEL OPENS Informally Nov.8. Formally Nov.20 Holly Inn and Berkshire openearly in January. Ev- ery comfort and a delight- fal Southern hospitality. Championship events in every field of sport scheduled through the entire season. For reservations, address General Office, Pineburst,N.C. A complete miniature set of the Woodbury skin preparations For 25 cents we will send you a complete miniature set of the Woodbury skin prepa- rations, containing samples of Woodbury’s Facial Soap, Woodbury’s Facial Cream, Woodbury’s Cold Cream and Woodbury’s Facial Powder ; together with the treatment booklet “A Skin You Love To Touch.” Address the Andrew _Jergens Co., 1011 Spring Grove Ave., Cincin- nati, Ohio. Jf you live in Canada, address the Andrew Jergens Co., Limited, 1011 Sherbrooke St. Perth, On- tario. ' Conspicuous Nose Pores Srow larger OMPLEXIONS otherwise flawless are often ruined by conspicuous nose pores. To reduce enlarged nose pores, use this special treatment: RING a soft cloth from very hot water, lather it with Woodbury’s Facial Soap, then hold it to your face. When the heat has expanded the pores, rub in very gently a fresh lather of Woodbury’s. Repeat this hot water and lather application several times, stopping at once if your nose feels sensitive. Then finish by rubbing the nose for thirty seconds with a piece of ice. Supplement this treatment with the steady general use of Wood- bury’s Facial Soap. Before long Copyright, 1921, by the Andrew Jergens Co. l if neglected you will notice a marked im- provement in your skin. But do not expect to change com- pletely in a week a condition resulting from long continued exposure and neglect. Make this treatment a daily habit and before long you will see how it gradually reduces the enlarged pores until they are in- conspicuous. Get a cake of Woodbury’s Facial Soap today at any drug store or toilet goods counter and begin this treatment tonight. A -cent cake will last a month or six weeks for general cleansing use, including any of the special Woodbury treatments. Books Received The Seven Ages of Man, by Ralph Bergengren (Atlantic Monthly Press). The Snowshoe Trail, by Edison Marshall (Lit- tle, Brown). A: Christmas Garland, by Max Beerbohm (Dutton). Reprint of inimitable burlesques of famous authors. The Elephant God, by (Putnam). The Frozen Barrier, by (Putnam). A Third of Life, by Perriton Maxwell (Small, Maynard). The Pride of Palomar, by Peter B. Kyne (Cos- lege, by Michael Sadlier (Putnam). The New World, by G. Murray Atkin (Thomas Y. Crowell). Daughter of the Sun, by Quien Sabe (Scrib- ner). Porchlight, by Leonie Aminoff (Dutton). 31 Gordon Casserly Belmore Browne m The Rough Crossing, by Sylvia Thompson (Houghton Mifflin). The Sherif, of Silver Bow, by Berton Braley (Bobbs-Merrill). gain, by Alice Hegan Rice (Century). : ‘oyal Auction Problems, by “Yarborough” (Dutton), New Voices, by Marguerite Wilkinson (Mac- millan). The Great Way, by Horace Fish (Mitchell Kennerley). Mademoiselle of Monte Carlo, by William Le Queux (Macaulay). Prince Cinderella, by Grace Alexander (Bobbs- Merrill). Messer Marco Polo, by Donn Byrne (Century). In Pawn, by Ellis Parker Butler (Houghton Mifflin). ¢ of Susan, by Helen R. Martin age, & Company). eorge Agnew Chamberlain (Har- comicbooks.com