Life, 1922-01-12 · page 8 of 34
Life — January 12, 1922 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top illustration depicts a formal social gathering with well-dressed men in suits discussing what appears to be an intellectual disagreement. The caption quotes "The Old Professor" asking his neighbor if he thinks the man to his right is a moron, with the neighbor responding "Half a fool" and the professor saying "I'd say a twice for him." This is satirizing pretentious academic or intellectual circles—specifically mocking pompous professors and their tendency toward pedantic argumentation and dismissive characterization of those they disagree with. The humor lies in the professor's insistence on semantic precision ("twice" rather than "half") about insulting terminology, suggesting absurd intellectual vanity masquerading as rigorous debate. The page also contains unrelated short poems and social commentary pieces typical of Life's satirical format.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
PN IT yee The Old Professor: The Puppet Show ILES upon miles and miles Of steel and stone-work gray! Soaring granite piles Topping the roaring aisles !— And this is Broadway! Jostle of Gentile and Jew! Trade!—a furious fray! Hurry the long day through, And night—what a carnival crew! And this is Broadway! Mimes !—behold them go! Life’s but a shifting play, An endless to-and-fro, A fleeting puppet-show— And this is Broadway! Clinton Scollard. Bennam: Do you think what Dar- win says about our ancestors is true? Mrs. Benuam: I think it is true about your ancestors. ie «ill | (A “What is a moron?” “Half a fool.” “I'd say it twice for him.” Good Indians Who Are Not Dead UT in Washington on the bluffs of Yakima River are the painted rocks of the Yakima Indians. They are of basalt, worn smooth by wind and wa- ter, and on them are images of men, buffaloes and other creatures, and trees, with hieroglyphics of sign writing which the Indians think is of divine origin. Would you believe it, advertising artists lately smeared a cigarette sign across those rocks! The Indians got after them, but they got out of the country alive; but the Indians went back and washed the sign off with turpentine. It was the advertising artists’ plan to have it lighted by elec- tricity. A number of things need doing in these times and a number need undo- ing. A lot of the outdoor advertising needs very badly to be undone. The National Association of Gardeners is one concern that thinks so. Don’t you think my right-hand neighbor is a moron? Epigrammatic OMEN do none of the philoso- | phizing, and have all the philos- ophy. * ok O* Success is a form of nervousness. * ok I do not believe in doing, for pleas- ure, things I do not like to do. * ok -« The wicked of one generation set the morals for the next. * * * Intellectuals should never marry; they won't enjoy it; besides, they should not reproduce themselves. * * % Dark circles under the eyes are net made with a compass. * * I take no stock in epigrams, because | I have made ’em. Don Herold comicbooks.com