Life, 1923-04-05 · page 14 of 40
Life — April 5, 1923 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon depicts a well-dressed man and woman in what appears to be a social gathering. The caption reads: "Lady: But don't you think, Professor, that sin is better than it was?" The satire targets pretentious social conversation—specifically the absurdity of polite small talk at gatherings. The "Professor" character represents intellectuals or academics who might engage in pompous philosophical discussion. The woman's deliberately nonsensical statement ("sin is better than it was") mocks how people discuss serious topics superficially at parties, and the man's apparent readiness to engage suggests he'll respond seriously to an inherently meaningless question. The joke critiques both affected intellectualism and the banality of upper-class social discourse during this period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HE economic situation is very grave. Practically no shortages exist. -L The situation along the Ruhr seems to be a sort of Peace de Resistance. LL Tut-ankh-Amen isn’t to No man, these days, is a hero to his wallet. LL The latest estimates state there are 7,500,000 golfers in the United States. So that leaves 112,500,000 listeners. A popular science magazine an- nounces a new way to make your tin cans at home. Unfortunately there is no way of telling whether the cans will appreciate this |ittle attention. aL The life of the average be unwrapped for another year. There’s too darn much red tape about a mummy. What has become of the old-fashioned fellow who used to earn a living recit- ing stock quotations and weather reports over the radio? -L If the automobile output keeps on increasing it will soon be easier to own a car than to steal one. - Will Hays’ movie direc- torship is just like his old post-office job—nothing but addresses. L Withdrawal of Rockefel- ler support from the Anti- Saloon League simply means they’ve quit pour- ing their oil on water. The average telephone operator has to be under- stood to be appreciated. aL Making Conversation : But don’t you think, Professor, that sin is better than it was? oyster, we hear, is ten years. After that, it siarts its career as an article of food. LL On the basis of non-com- bustible coal sold, 1923 will also be known as the Stone Age. ae The Third Party—the Lost Battalion of 1923. LL In view of the amount of it he has been getting for nothing, W. H. Anderson must feel rather sore when he thinks of that $24,000 he spent for publicity. LL Alexander the Great, so history relates, inquired of Diogenes whether there was any favor he could do him. “Keep out of my wave length!” barked the philosopher. “You're in- terfering with my bed- time story.” The attempt to bridge the gulf between Jew and In 1922 Americans con- sumed more than 100 pounds of sugar for each person, 98% of which was contained in their fiction. LL These criminal days, the New York police force is working to beat the bandits. LL According to our hustlers, it’s the Rotary Clubs that make the world go round. LL No wonder so many people are starving to death in China. Most of the rice is being made into face powder. Why all this agitation for Harvey’s return? What has England ever done for us? LL The Height of Something or Other: To give your wife cash as a birth- day present and have her go and pay the first installment on something with it. LL Senator Borah wants to make war illegal. Well, they made bootlegging illegal. L The fruit of congressional junkets is junk. Gentile would meet with more success were it not for the cir- cumstance that the bridge consti- tutes most of the gulf. —L With half a dozen drug-traffic iilms being made in Hollywood, the heroin, of course, plays a leading part. L Someone should make it his business to tell the weather man that spring is here. L After all, however, spring is only the day before yesterday warmed over. comicbooks.com