Life, 1923-07-12 · page 12 of 40
Life — July 12, 1923 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon depicts a child showing an adult a book, with dialogue about "important facts" including "numbers of automobiles and elevated trains." The accompanying essay "Why Is It—" satirizes modern urban life's unpredictability: canceled plans, materialized theater dates, menu surprises, and directional confusion in cities. The "Life Lines" section contains brief satirical observations, including a reference to President Harding preferring "trite" behavior to presidential dignity, and jokes about jazz composers, political conventions, and Prohibition (the "three-mile limit" for storing liquor on ships). The lower photograph shows someone drawing window shades, captioned about "vivid imagination," likely satirizing escapism or creative daydreaming during mundane moments. This reflects 1920s urban anxieties and the era's social transitions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life Lines HAT this country needs most, if one can judge from the vocal uproar of its inhabitants, is a few more bananas. aL Many a successful jazz composer has made the grade from rags to riches. aL The National Democratic Convention will probably be held in New York. The Republican Convention will be held in the White House. aL All of the criticism against Mr. Harding seems to be traceable to the fact that he’d rather be trite than he President. aL “Where,” asks a British contempo- rary, “will our ships store their liquor when they reach the three-mile limit ?” They might adopt our country club system and keep the hooch in Davy Jones's Locker. —L And now someone has discovered a ray that will shut off the force of gravity. This may revolutionize the “WHAT DO YOU PUT IN YOUR BOOK, LITTLE BOY?” collar-button-under-the-bureau_ joke “OH, IMPORTANT FACTS.” IL “WHAT, FOR INSTANCE?” - Most of the men who have been oper- “OH, NUMBERS OF AUTOMOBILES AND ELEVATED TRAINS. ating bucket shops are now located in the jug. Why Is It— PrSDeNt Harding must have a ; . been glad the Alaska trip came so To travelers setting sail for Europe: THAT the evening you planned tor soon after the Al Lasker trip. “Bun Voyage!” a quiet one is usually a Rip Snorter?...that the day you go to the country it always rains? ... that all plans made between 1 and 6 A. M. never materialize? .. . that every time you are taken to the theatre you have seen the play be- fore?...that after you have given the waiter the order, you always discover on the menu a far more appetizing dish?...that yesterday’s newspaper seems ages old?...that you can never remember the singularly _ brilliant thought that struck you the other morning in the bath?...that when- ever you are in a hurry every thor- oughfare turns out to be a one-way street of the opposite direction?... that you can never tell what a woman is going to do next? OST modern financial men would rather have their golf scores be- “YOU MIGHT DRAW DOWN THAT SHADE, DOC. I HAVE RATHER A low par than their stocks above. VIVID IMAGINATION,” comicbooks.com