Life, 1923-06-21 · page 22 of 36
Life — June 21, 1923 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks agricultural college graduates and rural life circa the 1920s. The schedule parodies the pretentiousness of a farm college commencement—featuring absurd elements like a "Class Poet" avoiding traditional rhymes and "mail-order diplomas." The bottom cartoon delivers the central joke: a college-educated graduate seeks work, but the foreman dismisses him as overqualified for even basic janitorial tasks, suggesting he "start on somethin' simpler." This critiques the disconnect between agricultural education and practical farm labor—implying college graduates lack practical skills despite their credentials. The humor targets both the inflated self-importance of educational institutions and the gap between academic training and real-world utility, a common concern during the agricultural crisis of that era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE Commencement Day at an Agricultural College F OUR-THIRTY A. M. Class rooster crows. Everybody up. 5:00. Arrival of parents to see sons graduate, resulting in twenty acres of parked Fords. 6:00. Philippic by Class Orator against Daylight Saving. 7:00. Class Poet reads poem of the realism school in which “Harvest moon” is not once rhymed with “June,” nor “love” with “dove,” since the latter is termed a “squab.” 9:00. Planting-of the Class Tomato Vine. | 11:00. Light luncheon: fried chicken, potatoes, green vegetables, cider, doughnuts, cake, pie, coffee, etc. 2:30. p. Mm. Farm bloc party in streets of college town. Guests of honor from Congress. 4:00. Address by President: “He Ain't Done Right by Our Nell.” 4:30. Handing out of handsome mail-order diplomas. 5:00. Exciting contest in which the milking team wins over a rival institution by one and one-half pints of double cream and two and three-quarters pounds of butter fat. 6:00. Barbecue and light supper. 0. Arrival of the city fellers for the Prom. Cancellation of the Prom. 8:00. Good-night song by the Glee Club: an especially composed ditty entitled, “Early to Bed and Early to Rise Mixes DOUELEY Makes Farmers Healthy and Puts "Em W: Both: PARDON—MY BALL, I THINK! Fairfax Downey Foreman: YES, I'LL GIVE YE A JOB SWEEPIN’ AN’ KEEPIN’ THE PLACE CLEAN, “BUT I'M A COLLEGE GRADUATE.” ELL THEN, MAYBE YE BETTER START ON SOMETHIN’ SIMPLER.” comicbooks.com