Life, 1923-09-06 · page 25 of 40
Life — September 6, 1923 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains satirical humor typical of 1920s American Life magazine. **Top Section ("Things LIFE Would Rather Like to Know"):** Mock-serious rhetorical questions about contemporary political figures—Senator La Follette, Magnus Johnson, and others—poking fun at their public positions and contradictions. The humor relies on readers recognizing these figures. **"Fair Bather" Cartoon:** A lifeguard rescues a drowning woman but his first concern is she's lost her earrings—satirizing male priorities and materialism over genuine concern. **"Why I Resigned as a Bank Officer":** Humorous anecdotes about absurd customer behavior: a Scotsman's literal question about daily interest, a wife's domestic endorsement, a customer expecting interest on overdrafts. The satire mocks both banking practices and customer ignorance. **"Voices on the Fairway":** A golf joke suggesting serious golfers lack humor—implying golf obsession is incompatible with levity. The page exemplifies Life's editorial style: topical political satire, gender commentary, and observational humor about contemporary American life and society.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Things LIFE Would Rather Like to Know UST what Senator La Follette thinks of Europe now. = * * * Ilow Magnus Johnson’s cows like the idea of being yoked to a dark hor + el \hether the eagerness of the Sena- tor from New Hampshire to climb on the Coolidge band-wagon should be described as Moses in a bull rush. +e oe How the English Channel likes be- ing double-crossed in one week. * * * li it would not be appropriate to speak of Judge Landis as the “Ace of Diamonds.” ee * Whether Grover Cleveland Berg- doll learned to shoot by attending the ies during the late war. eee What Jack Dempsey did with that horseshoe wreath the American Legion sent him. Fair Bather: Quick, GUARD! SAVE HER! SAV OFF HER EARRINGS! FORGOT TO TAKE eR! SHE WENT IN AND Why I Resigned as a Bank Officer A SCOTCHMAN came in and asked whether he would lose any interest if he withdrew a dollar to-day and put it back in to-morrow. I thought he was joking. I told a woman to endorse a check VOICES ON THE FAIRWAY to her husband, and she wrote on the back, “Your loving wife, Doroth: A customer complained because we didn’t pay interest on his overdraft. I advertised “Consult your banker,” and somebody thought I meant it. “HE TAKES GOLF SERIOUSLY, DOESN’T HE?” “YES, IF HE HAD A SENSE OF HUMOR, HE'D STOP PLAYING.” comicbooks.com