Life, 1923-08-16 · page 24 of 36
Life — August 16, 1923 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine contains satirical commentary by Montague Glass on American regional attitudes and pretension, particularly regarding New York City. **The Main Satire:** The piece mocks Midwesterners and Far Westerners who simultaneously disparage New York while obsessively imitating it. Glass describes Southern California as a prime example: residents name their streets "Broadway," hotels after New York landmarks (Waldorf, Plaza, Commodore), and restaurants feature "New York Steak" and "Manhattan Clam Chowder" on menus—yet claim to prefer their region over New York. **The Cartoon Below:** The illustration shows a social gathering where one gentleman boasts that New York is "not like the rest of the United States, thank God!"—expressing both superiority and disdain. A Scottish visitor (noted in the text) finds this puzzling, as the speaker likely isn't even from New York but probably from Ohio. **The Joke:** This is "faith without works"—claiming to reject New York while mimicking it obsessively. The underlying satire critiques American regional pretension and the cultural dominance of New York City in the early 20th century.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE Broadcastings By Montague Glass ODESTY and shyness are not necessarily synonymous. “He never once mentioned himself or his works,” said a man who recently spent a whole evening in company with an eminent English author and his publisher, “But there was no particular merit in that,” the man added, “because he never mentioned anything else cither.” ‘KK One of our minor authors recently underwent a scrious operation and although for some days his recovery was in doubt, he is now sufficiently convalescent to examine his accumulated mail, The first envelope he opened contained a clipping from the Manchester Guardian as follows: “Mr. Richard Roe the American playwright and nove- list is reported to be in a critical condition following a surgical operation, and all hope for his recovery has been abandoned.” Accompanying the clipping was a Ietter from the Alert Clipping Bureau which read: Dear Sir: We shall be glad to furnish you with a hun- dred clippings similar to the enclosed, for the moderate charge of £1 2s 4d. Awaiting your early reply, we remain, Obediently yours, THE ALERT CLIPPING BUREAU, xe New York,” said a gentleman at dinner recently, “is not like the rest of the United States, thank God!” “HOW. MANY VARIETIES OF T “COME OUT ID ALL THERE TS DO YOU SUPPOSE THERE ARE IN THE WORLD?” * THE GARDEN And his neighbor—a visitor from Scotland—was much puzzled. He didn’t know whether this pious gratitude issued from an admiration for New York or a dislike of it. However, it would have been patent to you or me, that the gentleman who thanked God came from no city nearer New York than possibly Akron, Ohio, since we all know that New Yorkers are not especially given either to piety or gratitude; and we also know that for some reason it is within the folkways of Middle and Far Westerners to hold individual anksgiving Services over the difference between New York and the rest of the United States. By pointing out this difference and singing psalms about it, they do not of course intend to disparage the rest of the United States. Nevertheless all this ritualistic gratitude is a glaring example of faith without works, as witness Southern Cali- fornia, where I live in the winter time. There they call their principal streets Broadway. Hotels are named Waldorf, Saint Regis, Commodore, Gotham and Plaza. There is a New York Store in every town; on the bills of fare in hotels, restaurants and lunch rooms appear daily the following items: New York Steak Manhattan Clam Chowder Roast Long Island Duckling and although they are not on the bill of fare one can often obtain Bronx Cocktails and Manhattan Cocktails. Somebody once asked Willie Collier what he thought (Continued on page 30) , AND I'LL SHOW you.” comicbooks.com se an | N of