Life, 1922-06-29 · page 22 of 35
Life — June 29, 1922 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1920s *Life* magazine page features a humor column where "Miss Complex" interprets readers' dreams through a satirical lens. The jokes rely on contemporary frustrations: **Dream Interpretations:** - Finding a cheap Greenwich Village apartment = impossible fantasy - Congress repealing Prohibition = wishful thinking (Prohibition was enforced 1920-1933) - Receiving courtesy from a NYC policeman = "the millennium is coming" (implying police were notoriously rude) - Wife's edible biscuits = absurd dream requiring surreal explanation **Political Reference:** One dream mentions Trotsky and Lenin running a barber shop on Nevsky Prospekt (a real St. Petersburg street). This satirizes American anxiety about the 1917 Russian Revolution—representing communist leaders in menial service is mockery of Bolshevism. **Bottom Poem:** "Upon the Sand" appears unrelated romantic verse, standard *Life* filler content. The humor targets 1920s urban life: housing scarcity, Prohibition discontent, and Red Scare anticommunism.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
* LIFE - Advice to the Dream-Lorn By Carrie Complex (Miss Complex undertakes to inter- pret any dreams that readers may care to send her. No extra charge for nightmares.) -[/Y DEAR MISS COMPLEX: I usually retire at ten-thirty each night and dream the funniest dreams imaginable—each night an entirely different dream! Monday night I dreamed that an old sweet- heart I was engaged to once sent me back my ring. Tuesday night I dreamed about reading a good poem on the editorial page of the New York Times. Wednesday night I dreamed of finding an eight-room apartment in Greenwich Village for fifty dollars a month. Thursday night I dreamed that The Smart Set printed some clever stories. Friday night I dreamed that Congress had repealed Prohibition and had nation- alized the nation’s supply of liquor, ae Dew Sie tidal retrogression Aquatic pleasures banned, You held a sunny session Upon the sand. giving to each family a case of Scotch. What shall I do about it? Ocdipus O'Reilly. A.: Keep on dreaming! Dear Miss Complex: Please give significance of follow- ing dreams: . Eating wife’s biscuits. . Getting courteous answer from New York policeman. . Falling in love with Broadway chorus girl. . Writing the great American novel. Cy Kopathic. A.: Interpretations: 1. You are going to build a brick wall around your house. 2. The millennium is coming. 3. You want to sell your Cadillac for a Rolls-Royce. 4. You are angling for a job with the Luna- cy Commission. Upon the Sand Your smile was sweet command, And sweet beyond expression Your costume subtly planned. Dear Miss Complex: The other night I dreamed that Trotzky was giving me a haircut and shave and Lenine was shining my shoes in a barber shop on the Ney- sky Prospekt, while I was reading a copy of the Polski Gazette. When Leon got through, my face looked like a Red Terror. I gave him a tip of a thousand rubles, but he ran after me, waving his razor and shouting, “Death to the bour- geoisie!” Please interpret. E. Rotic. A.: You have the Man-Afra of-His-Barber complex. The “Red Terror” is the blush on your face when you refuse a shampoo or singe. The tip you usually give the barber is equal to the value of the thousand rubles you mention in your dream, hence you earn the barber's curses as symbolized by Trotzky’s threat. Could any self-possession Such loveliness withstand ? You made a deep impression— Upon the sand! A. G. comicbooks.com