Life, 1923-05-17 · page 33 of 46
Life — May 17, 1923 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top cartoon shows anthropomorphic apes/primates creating a newspaper comic strip—satirizing the origin of comic art as primitive or unsophisticated. The main content is a humorous month-by-month schedule showing the chaotic, absurd workflow of a magazine editor. The joke is the massive disconnect between when articles are assigned and when they're actually needed: articles for April's coal strike are assigned in January; Christmas stories go to press in June; Abraham Lincoln's Birthday essays are due in August but the editor worries in August they won't arrive on time. The schedule mocks editorial incompetence and the magazine industry's impossible planning cycles. The lower cartoon shows a patient in bed with a creditor/doctor, joking that although doctors have "given up" on his recovery, he still intends to pay them eventually—dark humor about unpaid medical debts and false promises. All three pieces satirize American professional life: artistic pretension, editorial chaos, and financial irresponsibility.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
<a, — Ehkty A ia esr ince to The First Working OAR ts out article for July number on causes and effects of coal strike that is due the follow- ing April. Fesruary—Digs up pictures of girls in one-piece bathing suits to fit mid-summer fiction number due in August. Marcn—Gets tip from Morris Gest on what sort of troupe he will bring over next season so that ex- clusive announcement can be made in September edition. Aprit—Wires several authors at White Sulphur Springs demand- ing rush copy of football stories for October number. May—Takes a chance that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle will be over here again next fall and orders several reams of spirit articles. June—Sends fine bunch of Christ- mas stories to press. Juty—Selects front cover pic- ture from mass of skating, skiing and tobogganing girls. Aucust—Takes vacation and worries for fear that Abraham Lin- coln’s Birthday essays won't be in on time. SeptemBer—Calls up auto adver- Comie Artist Gets an Idea for a Newspaper Strip Schedule of a Busy Magazine Editor tising department and finds out how many columns they'll let him have for March. Ocrozer—Sends opium pipe as gift to staff designer and orders him to make a guess as to what the early spring styles will be. NovemBer—Orders annual ar- ticle on Ziegfeld picking out the beauties—good every May. Decemper—Asks noted woman writer to lay aside Christmas shop- ping and rush snappy articles on June brides. N. R. O'Hara. “I understand the doctors have given you up.” “Yes, but I really did intend to pay them some day.” comicbooks.com