Life, 1923-09-13 · page 23 of 36
Life — September 13, 1923 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**"A Modern Prize Fight"** satirizes the commercialization of boxing in the early 20th century. The detailed accounting shows every action—punches, clinches, dancing, even bleeding—assigned monetary values ($1,000-$20,000 per move). The joke critiques how professional boxing had become less about athletic competition and more about staged entertainment designed to generate revenue for promoters and fighters. The illustration depicts a laborers' dispute (note the shovel and "Eastern Standard Time ditch"), where a foreman dismisses workers' concerns about daylight savings time. The bottom cartoon, "How a Mosquito Got It on Account of Pythagoras," appears to be an unrelated humorous illustration. Together, these pieces reflect Life magazine's satirical commentary on American commercialism and labor issues of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Foreman; wey, YoU! IT MAY BE TWELVE O'CLOCK DAYLIGHT SAVIN’ BUT WE'RE DIGGLN’ AN EASTERN STHANDARD TOIME DITCH. \ 7 + ten times at $1,000. They embrace Round 7 \ Modem Prize Fight {3 sip, W. assimilates ten rights, $10,000; | a Round 1 a Round 6 F. lands them, $10,000 for him; W. is AND F, step into the ring from Wy. wabbles, $20,000; F. lands ten counted out: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 7, 8 9 their respective corners. Credit rights at $1,000 each aves left. 10 thousand dollars. $1,000 for the exertion. They hiocking with his right, $2,000. awhile. V ds left jab, $2,000; inds five rights at $1,000 each; W. reuts, $5,000; they dance around ring, $5,000 each; W. loses five »s of blood, $1,000 each; F. lands rights at $1,000 each. Round 2 hey clinch, $2,000 each; W. feints vith left, $1,000; F. lands ten rights, 1000 each; W. smiles, $1,000; W. ches, $2,000 more. Round 3 V. lands one right, $10,000; he les, $5,000; F. lands ten rights, 100 each; they earn $5,000 each by clinching. Round 4 \V. lands right, $20,000; F. lands ti. rights at $1,000 each. They in- dolge in a $2,000 clinch. Round 5 Credit cach $5,000 for dancing; W. lends right, $20,000; F. lands right How A MOSQUITO PYTHAGORAS GOT IT ON ACCOUNT OF comicbooks.com