Life, 1923-01-18 · page 15 of 36
Life — January 18, 1923 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**The Cartoon:** The top illustration shows a man in a fedora and overcoat at what appears to be a pawn shop or jewelry counter, speaking to a clerk. The caption reads: "I'd like a few engagement rings—just enough to see me through down at Palm Beach, don't you know." **The Satire:** This jokes about wealthy men frequenting Palm Beach (a luxury resort destination) who serially pawn engagement rings—presumably from broken engagements or affairs—to fund their leisure spending. The humor targets the casual infidelity and financial irresponsibility of privileged men, suggesting they view engagement rings as mere commodities to liquidate rather than serious commitments. It satirizes both upper-class excess and the disposable nature of relationships among the elite. **The Articles Below** appear unrelated, discussing evolutionary biology and children's bathing etiquette.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
il | “I'd like a few engagement rings—just enough to sce me through down at Palm Beach, don’t you know.” PREFACE AR away in a distant land there is a great castle called Belle- vue. A man dwells in the castle who spends his time drilling a squad of goldfish, and teaching petulant dinosaurs to decorate Christmas trees. When he has succeeded in his task, then a Frenchman will have had time to drink one bock. Tue SETTING OF THE STAGE We live under the shadow of a gigantic dollar sign. How much are’ we worth? How long is a price level? What effect does Santa Claus have on big business? Slowly, but with infinite sagacity, we have been pushing this dollar sign farther towards the twelve-fig- ure mark. We have not gone very far. We are now worth about $.98. * * * One day the first living cell floated upon the waters of the sea. For millions of years it drifted about within three miles of shore. One The True Story of Mankind day it met a ground swell who had naughty habits. The poor little cell was easily led astray and it took up its abode in the wet, wet ocean, where it founded a family. **_* * One evening many billions of years later old grandfather Padded Cell was unusually harsh. Two of the youngest Cells, Verma and Imba, were spanked for reading the Elsie books, so they decided to run away from home. They left the cellery and became amphibious, which means that they could go without liquor although they'd just as soon have some. After many wanderings they settled in the land of the dry cell. In other words they became mam- mals. These mammals finally developed into MAN. Soon man started go- ing about in groups and learned to balance himself on his hind legs. Great was the joy of Verma Cell and Imba Cell when they saw this, you may be sure, although they them- selves were more anxious to learn how to sit down as they were very tired after founding the human race. You may hardly believe it, but everything you see about you sprang from these two little runaway cells. Many people think they should nev- er have left old grandfather Padded Cell to drink himself to death. These people are not progressive. F. W. B. For a Bright Child OME children hate to take a bath ‘ And thus incur their parents wrath. If you a tiresome job have found it, T'll tell you how to get around it. First wet the soap; then put it back Into its little hanging rack. Next with your hand just splash about, Whistle and sing, and even shout. Then wet the towel pretty well And not a soul can ever tell But what you’ve wallowed in the tub And had a grand and thorough scrub. G. KD. comicbooks.com