Life, 1922-06-01 · page 25 of 34
Life — June 1, 1922 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**"Those High-Brow Blues"** is a poem lamenting intellectual pursuits. The speaker, apparently a woman, complains that scholarly knowledge makes her unhappy and unattractive to men—potential romantic interests ("sheiks") lose interest upon discovering she's intelligent. She regrets her intellectual development, wishing she'd focused on "heart" instead of "mentalics." The accompanying **cartoon** shows a domestic scene where a drunk husband ("John") refuses to stop drinking, claiming he won't abandon liquor he brought from Canada. His exasperated wife protests he's had enough. **"Summer Hotel People"** is gossipy social commentary about predictable hotel guests: Mrs. Bulger discusses weight loss; Mr. Gelp avoids effort; Mrs. Russell guards her chair jealously; Mrs. Gribble complains annually; Miss Blunk reads heavy literature until the heat forces her to lighter fare like "The Sheik." The satirical point throughout: modern life—whether intellectual ambition, drinking, or vacation routines—produces anxiety and dissatisfaction rather than happiness.
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Those High-Brow Blues "\M a wonderful scholar, | meditate much On philosophy, government, Ethics and such. My brains make my head ache, I know such a lot— Does this make me happy? The hell—it does not. If | want to go spooning As other fools go, With a moon and a rose bush An music played low— I may find a sheik, But his ardor soon wanes If | happen to show “I'm a woman with brains. If | lived my life over And made a fresh start, I'd cut out mentalics And major in heart. Wife: 1 wouldn’t order any more, John, you've had enough. John: Shay, m’dear! After bringing this jag all the way from Canada, I’m not But my mind keeps improving going to quit now. And now it’s too tate To be other than high-brow— Summer Hotel People Hell’s bells, what a fate! T is not the latest hotel scandal which Mrs. Bulger is relating to Miss Wilks and Mrs. Mullet, who hang breathless on her every word—simply a dramatic recital, with gestures, of how she, Mrs. Bulger, lost 1314 Ibs. by elim- inating all starchy foods. * * * Mr, Gelp’s only exercise throughout the summer is standing up while ladies chat with Mrs. Gelp for “just a second.” * * * The recent riots in India were tame affairs indeed compared with what hap- pens in the lobby of the Ocean View when old Mrs, Russell finds an innocent “transient” in the chair she has occu- pied thirty-five consecutive summers, * * * Mrs. Gribble holds the long-distance medal for the Ocean View. This will be the thirty-eighth summer that the porch floor has creaked beneath the rockers of her chair while she an- nounced to the Little Group of Serious Knitters that the table is poorer, and . the people “queerer,” than ever, and it is indeed doubtful if she returns next season. No one registers alarm. * * * Miss Blunk believes one should do some good reading in the summer. The Soaked One: Gosh! I’m wet through and through! Last summer she carried “Queen Vic- Christian Scientist: No, my friend! It is not as bad as that. You have only toria” until it got so hot she just had to think you are not wet and you are not. to give up and read “The Sheik. The Soal:ed One: If it’s as easy as that, why do you carry an umbrella? K. D. comicbooks.com