Life, 1921-12-08 · page 13 of 34
Life — December 8, 1921 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top cartoon satirizes American attitudes toward French culture during World War I. An American woman in a restaurant encounters a French officer and expresses desire for "a real French dinner," but when the French colonel suggests she'd have to return to New York to experience authentic French cuisine, she demurs—implying that American establishments merely imitate French style without genuine substance. Below this is "The Letters of Alicia" by Robert Barnes Rudd (No. VI), a humor column where the writer discusses verbose expression and social obligation to say something meaningful rather than empty pleasantries. The section "Maintaining Neutrality" presents a brief comedic exchange about what to say when encountering a rival beneath mistletoe. The page reflects early-20th-century American fascination with European sophistication and social etiquette humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Miss American: Le Colonel Bonne Bouche: Oh, Colonel! ENSLISI! I should so like a real French dinner. Ah, Mademoiselle, for that you will ’ave to go back to New York! The Letters of Alicia Robert Barnes Rudd No. VI ARLING, The other day, dear, I started to * tell you what “burst upon my inward 7 sight” (I’m crazy about Shelley, aren’t one you?) in Oldman’s going up in the ele- vator—I think I shall begin to call it the Lift, just to increase my vocabulary a little—and then one thing and another came up that I just had to speak of until “I wandered lonely as a cloud” (Wordsworth, Golden Treasury, Page 264) away from my subject. That’s the worst of having an active, big, broad, catholic interest: you simply have to mention things that occur to you, although lots of times you may be boring people. Still, more often than not you may just say something that you don't think is one of your best thoughts (although I always try to say my best: I think one owes it to Society) to somebody or other—like that girl in Pippa’s Past, you know. Somebody or other was always saying some- thing or other to her at the crucial moment and she found it all awfully, awfully helpful—or perhaps it was the other way around. It’s a long time since I’ve taken any Brown- ing so I’ve forgotten just what Pippa’s past was, but I know it was one way or the other—but I do remember he had a Portuguese wife, because he wrote sonnets to her and we had such a thorough course in all that sort of thing at Rosecliff. But Mamma is calling me to go down town with her, so I must finish some other titne. How time flies! Affectionately, ALIcta. Maintaining Neutrality MapcE: What did you say to him when he found you under the mistletoe with his rival? Marjorie: I just told him he was next. comicbooks.com