Life, 1923-06-21 · page 23 of 36
Life — June 21, 1923 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine contains multiple satirical pieces targeting early 20th-century American social attitudes. **Main Cartoon:** A young woman leaving her first matinee performance invites a male acquaintance to visit her, playing on the social convention that women shouldn't appear too eager—a commentary on courtship etiquette and gender performance. **"Hints for Collegians":** Cynical advice mocking privileged college life, dismissing classics education, elevating football captains and fraternity status (Dekes, Kappa Sig), and suggesting financial success matters more than genuine learning. The jabs at "Cambridge or Oxford accents" reference affectations of wealthy American students. **"He Knew":** A farmer's son's witty response about working "the hottest" hours satirizes both economic hardship and classroom disconnect from rural reality. **"Plot" section:** Literary criticism mocking the overvaluation of plot in fiction—suggesting character, imagination, and style matter little, only narrative mechanics "make the mon[ey]." Overall, the page satirizes American class pretensions, educational hypocrisy, and commercial values.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Very Young Lady (leaving her first Hints for Collegians ELIEVE nothing, you are told. Politics is a game for muckers. Be dignified, and let who will be power- ful. It is just as important to know whom to cut as when, Prepossession is nine points of the professorial law. Shakespeare got along on small Latin and less Greek. He could not even tell a Deke from a Kappa Sig. No one in the world seems so great to you as the captain of the football team. No one is. Actions speak louder than words; particularly breach of promise ac- tions. Be conservative. A man might just as well take an interest in art as be a radical. The newspapers exaggerate every- thing except the importance of a big football game. except what matinee): I'VE HAD A LOVELY AFTERNOON. SOMETIME? Broadly speaking, the classics are so called because you do not under- stand them. Either the Cambridge or the Ox- ford accent is quite all right; but beware their interest in government. Your education is complete the day you receive your first dividend check. James K. McGuinness. He Knew HE teacher had been trying to fractions to ac! i Turning to Johnny, she explain arithmetic. said: “If you work cight hours a day, what part of the day do you work?” “The hottest,” replied Johnny, whose father was a farmer. [vs beginning to look as if we should have to join the League of Nations in order to enforce the Eighteenth Amendment. WON'T YOU COME AND SEE ME ‘ “Plot “Plot is of minor importance”— Booth Tarkington, HE Plot, the Plot, It boils the pot. Character study? It makes it muddy, Imagination? No circulation. Ideas, thought? They count for nought. \ Lit'ry Style? It ain't worth while. All said and done: Plot makes the mon. Trowbridge Larned. T’S never too late for a woman to keep an engagement. comicbooks.com