Life, 1923-05-24 · page 16 of 42
Life — May 24, 1923 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine contains several satirical elements: **Top cartoon**: A domestic scene where a wife complains to her husband about unpaid bills, with the caption suggesting he needs "a strong incentive" to work harder—satirizing middle-class financial struggles. **"A Wise Father" joke**: Contrasts New Haven education with practical New York business experience, mocking academic pretension. **"The Sexophone Player" cartoon**: Shows a uniformed man (likely a park official or police officer) telling a child to stop playing saxophone outdoors, with the caption crediting "Life (to Bureau of Social Hygiene): Keep out!" This satirizes public health campaigns and noise ordinances—mocking overly intrusive government regulation of everyday activities in the name of social welfare. The page blends domestic humor with social commentary on regulation and public decorum.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Well, Vera, I must say I don’t think it’s fair to your husband to run up so many bills.” “My dear, to do his best work he needs a strong incentive.” A Wise Father “Was your son educated in New Haven?” “No; he went to college in New Haven, but he got his education in New York.” CoMMUNISM is a community where there is nothing to eat and it is divided equally among the citi- zens. One divided by zero is infinity: two divided by one is affinity. Life Lines ERO fiddled while Rome burned. “I couldn’t bear to disappoint the radio fans,” he ex- plained. -L At the three-mile limit, the big political issue is the Leak of Na- tions. L By another year, the Treasury De- partment should issue a special In- come Tax blank for child movie stars with a deduction allowed for each dependent parent. aL The camel, according to the Ameri- can Museum of Natural History, originated on the American conti- nent, which, oddly enough, is also the birthplace of the man who would walk a mile for one. aL The obvious selection for Ameri- ca’s representative at the World Court is William T. Tilden, 2d. aL When opportunity knocks at the door of the modern business man, he generally sends out word that he is “in conference.” The Sexophone Player LIFE (to Bureau of Social Hygiene): Keep out! comicbooks.com