Life, 1922-04-13 · page 25 of 34
Life — April 13, 1922 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes aggressive advertising campaigns and American culture's tendency to sensationalize. The cartoon (top) shows a mare kicking at smaller horses—a visual pun on "Dam Foolishness" (a female horse is a "dam"). The main text mocks the proliferation of themed marketing weeks ("Milk Week," "White Shoe Week," "Silk Week," etc.) that bombard consumers. The author proposes satirical counter-weeks targeting advertisers, mail truck drivers, and title writers—suggesting public frustration with manipulation and commercial excess. The final section, "The One Exception," takes a darker turn: it argues that in this publicity-obsessed America, virtually everyone can gain attention through strikes, crime, stunts, or controversy—except disabled soldiers, who are ignored despite their sacrifice. This appears to be social commentary on post-WWI America's failure to adequately recognize or care for veterans.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
any- ) in * on ould surd here that what 1 in- 2s to > on roth- das the idual 1 the ibove read educe weak Dam Foolishness Protecting the Week F we want to cry “Kamerad,” and let these advertising WEEKS go on as the advertisers see fit, all well and good, if, on the contrary, we want any liberty at all, now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party. Milk Week came, and we obediently consumed the daily gallon or whatever it was, gaining thereby neither pounds nor virility. White Shoe Week was uneventful until we } wore new buckskins with a dinner coat and got roundly booed for our enthusiasm. Silk Week came and produced in us a rebellion. We added not one awning design to our collection. Having achieved such restraint we rested, hope- ful that our stand had made the advertisers realize that public opinion counted for something. Did they? They did not! Buy a Book a Week Week, Linoleum Week, Gas Stove \Veek and others crowded us to the wall. Then we had an idea, not only to rebel, but also and at the same time to counter heavily with some pet ideas of our own. We take pleasure in submitting a few suggestions. ~~ 1. Apvextisers’ WrEEK—Seven days to be devoted to the rounding-up and extermination of advertisers who coin words or otherwise abuse the already suffering English lansuage. . Mat. TRucK WeEK—Same time to be devoted to drivers of mail trucks. A maximum of seven, any seven, to be shot each day for trick driving exhibitions. | Weex—Similar in purpose and design to No. 2. Maximum to be shot daily to be increased to seventeen. } Pennant WeEK—To be devoted to the extermination by murder or arson of all manufacturers or consumers of pennants showing places where automobile tourists have or have not been. . Movie Propucers’ WEEK—To be devoted to boiling in oil producers who change the titles of stories. . Tirte Writers’ Weex—Each participant to handle in his own sweet way the case of any title writer. 7. Purety PersonaL WEEK—Seven days given over to the worthy cause of forcing recognition of personal merit, according to the meritor’s own standards and ideas. These few ideas may be the start of a great movement to be called by some snappy title. Suggestions will be gladly received. J. R. O. Perkins. The One Exception N this wonderful country of ours the possibilities of advertising oneself were never so great. If you are a laboring man, you can easily get your name in the papers by organizing an impromptu strike. If you are a retail business man, you can ask some gunmen to raid your shop and carry off your last year’s stock. If you have any literary ability, or haven’t, you can start a humorous column in a daily paper and write about yourself every day. If you are a minister, you have only to denounce the stage; if you are an actor, you have only to denounce the church. There is only one man in the United States who cannot secure an audience, who cannot get some part of this great people to listen to him— The disabled soldier. comicbooks.com