Life, 1922-04-27 · page 31 of 34
Life — April 27, 1922 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three distinct humor pieces: **"How Shall I Word It?"** satirizes overly formal "letter writer" etiquette manuals through a fake thank-you letter attributed to Max Beerbohm. The joke is the letter's brutal honesty—the writer admits he skimmed only a few pages and calls the book "trash," while maintaining perfectly polite language. It mocks the hypocrisy of social conventions that demand we lie gracefully. **"Second Thoughts"** tells of a Florida sheriff who captures a criminal but releases him because "he's about the only man over there who does anything." The satire targets the absurdity of law enforcement in rough frontier regions where the "criminal" may be more industrious than the law officer. **"Masterpieces"** (bottom) is a brief Paris-sourced joke about an angel appearing in paint at an artist's studio—wordplay on "painted" (cosmetics) versus artistic medium. The page is primarily advertising for Williams Shaving Cream, using a sales dialogue about product quality to promote a free sample.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“How Shall I Word It?” Max Beerbohm in his new book, “And | Even Now,” seeks to improve on the too perfect “complete letter writer for men and women,” and indicates what sort of model letter that type of manual really needs. For instance, a letter to thank an author for an inscribed copy of his book should read as follows: “Dear Mr. Emanuel Flower: “It was kind of you to think of sending me a copy of your new book. It would I am_a man of do not like to tell abandon that project. gentle instincts, and dar: you that ‘A Flight into Arcady’ (of rile which I have skimmed a few pages, thus wasting two or three minutes of my not 1 two altogether worthless time) is trash. On little the other hand, I am determined that you shall not be able to go around boasting to ra your friends, if you have any, that this derided, and well-wisher, work was not condemned, dismissed by your sincere Wrexrorp CRIPPS.” —New York World. Second Thoughts In a certain island section of Florida a good many rough characters live, who are idle, quarrelsome, shift about a good deal, and hard to keep track of. One of them, named Tomlinson, was accused of robbery, and the sheriff him, it Tomlinson “got the drop” on the officer, disarmed him, and kept him two days. Finally Tomlinson released the sheriff, and gave him back his pistol, first throwing the cartridges out. Then the sheriff returned home, Tom- linson 1 anding him on the mainland. “Well,” the deputy asked his “did you get your man?” “No,” the ‘sheriff replied, “he’s about the only man over there who does any- thing, and I thought I would let him alone.” W. Howe’s Monthly. chief, Masterpieces He (at studio tea): Georgette is an rmation angel. tourist Sue: Bah! She’s all over paint. r phone He: e: But I never saw an angel that hadn't been painted. —Le Journal Amusant (Paris). + 8940 —_—— Pe rfection | have been kinder still to think again and| LIFE - “The End” That children often find interesting those very things in newspapers which parents would rather they did not was brought home to a certain mother at the time of the Landru execution. Upon coming to the breakfast table one morning she found her seven-year-old daughter eating her oatmeal in a state of | great thrill. | “Mother,” ly and dead!” | Mother swallowed hard, thought quick- ly, and said quietly, “Is he, —New York Evening Post. ” the little girl said breathless- with much joy, “Bluebeard is “And they said hotel. “Just been down to Glastonbury,” best I carry. Very high grade. they said it wasn’t good enough. about that?” 29 The Established Order . The war has come and gone, the face of the earth has been remapped, great social and economic changes are on the way, a new world swims towards us... but photographs of female members of - rope’s royal. families show the strange, enduring dowdiness. —Don Marquis, in New York Sun. is the most henpecked man in same “SPIFFIN: the world.’ “How come?” “His wife makes him put on evening clothes to sit home and listen to a radio concert.”—Buffalo Express. it wasn’t good enough!” A salesman and an advertising man met in a Hartford said the salesman, “to show the J. B. Williams Company a sample of a cer- tain oil that they use in their Shaving Soaps. Practically edible. What do you know It’s the And went to arrest |” “I know a lot,” said the advertising man. “I know how finicky they are about the stuff they put into their soap. Good enough to eat. That's their motto.” “Good enough” only if it’s the best there is. And it’s this bes? in materials, skill and experience that has given Williams’ Shaving Cream these distinctive features It thoroughly softens the beard It thoroughly softens and lubricates the skin so that it gives a shave that’s a delight to even the tenderest face. If you are not one of the millions who already know Williams’ Shaving Cream, try a few shaves with a FREE SAMPLE TUBE Dept. Name a as | Address ... (py actual size) Williams THE J. B. WILLIAMS COMPANY 44, Glastonbury, Conn. free, a trial size tube of Shaving Cream. (Use this coupon or a postal card) comicbooks.com