Life, 1923-04-12 · page 17 of 40
Life — April 12, 1923 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* contains three separate satirical pieces: 1. **Top cartoon**: A teacher asks student Johnny to define "fish-net." His answer—"holes tied together with string"—is a classic children's joke playing on literal versus practical definitions. 2. **"Your New Home"**: This satirizes the contradictory advice given to young couples buying homes. It mocks the impossibility of combining incompatible architectural styles (Colonial, Tudor Gothic, French Chateau, California bungalow, Adirondack) and having mutually exclusive features (many bedrooms *and* few bedrooms; long rooms that are also narrow). The joke targets both pretentious home-buying culture and the absurdity of following too much conflicting advice. 3. **"Advice to Young Ladies"**: A romantic poem advises women not to question their suitors' love. The bottom cartoon shows a man charged with wrongdoing; when asked if justice was done, he replies he wants "mercy" instead—suggesting he's guilty but hoping for leniency rather than fair treatment. All three pieces employ gentle satire on domestic life, romantic relationships, and social expectations.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Yi) aarit Wy) yA Teacher: Johnny, what is a fish-net? Johnny: A lot of holes tied together with a piece of string. Your New Home Advice to Young Ladies (As \ou Picture It After Listening Don’t ask him why he loves you. Don’t ask him why he loves you. to the Advice of Your Home-Own- Go seek the surging sea; I beg you, do not try ing Friends.) The azure sky may tell you why, For if you do, he'll turn pale blue, T will be a Colonial cottage in Or robins in the tree. And ask himself, “Well, why the Tudor Gothic style, revealing the lrench Chateau influence and - ——————————— | ' embodying the best features of the IALNNIANIMLI English manor, California bungalow — <a and Adirondack lodge. It will be iY heated by hot air, hot water, steam, iS electricity and gas; it will have a tile, slate. shingle, terra cotta, asphalt, 4 ! asbestos and thatched roof and will G ‘Cs be painted in quiet tones of purple, green. red, yellow and pink. The house will contain many bedrooms, to encourage one’s relatives; and very jew, to discourage them. The livin, room will be long, low, high, wide ind narrow, treated in the Em- pire, Italian Renaissance and late Flensh manner, with straight lines, a broken frieze and a footless pedi- ment Your home will be situated on a wind swept hill-top on low ground in the n idst of a dense wood, ten miles fron’ the station and within easy mine eee ang H “Don't you think he’s done you justice?” eRSiaae “Me? Say, I don’t want justice; I want mercy.” comicbooks.com