Life, 1923-09-27 · page 21 of 36
Life — September 27, 1923 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This full-page cartoon satirizes the shallow ambitions of 1920s white-collar workers. The illustration shows a profile of a man's head with his brain depicted as a phrenological map—a pseudoscientific head-reading system popular in the era. Inside the brain are labeled sections representing different mental faculties: "Observation," "Perception," "Self-esteem," and various other capacities, arranged like a map of territories. Below, a tiny figure with a telescope observes this "new star"—the ambitious young man himself. **The satire:** The accompanying text reveals the subject's reasoning for becoming a bank vice-president: it won't interfere with his golfing, and his college friends who aren't working have already tried it. The cartoon mocks the era's tendency toward empty careerism—pursuing prestigious titles without genuine qualification or effort, reducing human ambition to measurable but meaningless "mental faculties." It's a critique of 1920s corporate mediocrity and social climbing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
GUIDE me tt takes to print Lire, crs should verify from the dail * rs the continuance of the at the theatres niention Oxing to the More or Less Serious The Breaking Point. Klaw—Nothing extra, Casanova. Empire—To be reviewed later Children of the Moon. Comedy—A tale hereditary madness which has’ moments considerable effectiveness. The Crooked Square, Hudson—Reviewed this isst The Lullaby. Knickerbocker—To be re cowed next week. Peter Weston. reviewed next we Rain. Maxine in one of the pl Red Light Annie. Sam H. Harris—To be jott’s—Jeanne Eagels s you shouldn't miss. Morosco—Showing what fun you can have in New York with co- caine, firearms and a good constitution, Seventh Heaven. right if you demand no particular in your entertainment Sun Up. Provincctown—How the War came to the hinterland, told in a quiet and dramatic manner. The Woman on the Jury. it seems there was this won been’ wronged by th’s fellow Zeno. ) St.—All the melo: drama you could possibly ask for—perhaps a bit more. Comedy and Things Like That Abie’s Irish Rose. Republic—We refuse to answer on advice of counsel. : Aren't We All. Gaicty—Pleasant Brit ish_ entertainment, with Cyril Maude, The Changelings. Henry Miller's—To be reviewed later. Connie Goes Home. F To_be reviewed rext week. n who had ‘yNinth St.— Garrick—A The Devil’s Disciple. story of the Ame an Revolution which turns out to be a delightful Shaw play toward the end. st week, The Good Old Days. Broadhurst—All the Prohibition jokes except the three good ones. Home Fires. Ambassador—Just the. kind e ome “Very nice, r the Liberty—The old _ gambling river-boats revived in a good Booth Tarkington. show by Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary. Belasco— Reviewed in this™:s Tweedles, i Not a momentous event, y pleasant 0 Two Fellows and a Girl. Vanderbilt— Everyday talk made amusing. The Whole Town's Talking. Bijou— Buckety-buckety farce with, oddly enough, Grant Mitchell. Eye and Ear Entertainment Adrienne. George M. _Cohan's—Richard arle and Billy B. Van_in a mould. Artists and Models. Shubcrt—An appea! to several of the more popular emotions, Greenwich Village Follies. [Winter Gar- len—To be reviewed 1 Helen of Troy, N. Y. | Sclwyn—Amus. ing kidding. Little Jessie James. ee, which one is that? Little Miss Bluebeard. 3 Bordoni. Music Box Revue. reviewed later. Poppy. Apollo—Madge Kennedy and W. (. Fields making the evening delightful. Scandals of 1923, Globe—George White's show. Vanities of 1923. rl Carroll—Elab- funny, thanks to Joe crate and. generally f Segey Hopkins Joyce's dancing Longacre—Let's um—Irene Box—To be Music Casino — Very stepping | music. * LIFE - 19 Others Have Succeeded, Why Not I? | AM thinking seriously of becoming a vice-president of.a bank. Most of my college chums who aren't work- ing have tried it, and it doesn’t seem to interfere with their golfing. Just what the qualifications are I am not sure, but I could make myself liked anywhere. I am looking for a bank where there are only a few vice-presidents, where there is a chance for a man to show a little individuality. I want to be a mere cog in a machine. Perhaps the best opening would be in some smaller bank which hasn't room for more than, say, six or eight don’t vice-presidents’ desks set out in rows like tables in Childs’. I know of a savings bank in Buffalo which never publishes a list of The inference is that it has I must inquire the next time I make a deposit. They can't very well turn me down. Savings bank: as numerous as vice-presidents. EB. J. K vice-presidents. only one; are almost That Will Be Hard O you know what will be the result of dollar whea “No; what?” -dollar cider.” ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATION OF A NEW STAR comicbooks.com