Life, 1923-10-04 · page 41 of 44
Life — October 4, 1923 — page 41: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a humorous monologue by a traveling salesman observing social change in small-town America (Jonesville). The salesman catalogs how life has transformed yet remains fundamentally unchanged: **The satire's point:** Despite surface modernization—wives now go downtown for lunch instead of staying home, daughters drive fast cars and knit simultaneously, people wear knickers and visit country clubs—the core human nature of these "old boys" remains constant. They still care about fishing and politics; their wives are the same spirited women, just in modern dress. The joke critiques how Americans mistake *superficial* cultural shifts (automobiles, fashion, women's mobility) for genuine transformation while remaining essentially the same in values and behavior. The rest of the page is advertising (Silvertown tires, American Stationery) unrelated to the satire.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Same Old Boys “You're making Jonesville for the first time—eh?” said the gray-haired traveling salesman, “I started drop- ping off there in the days when the nierchants used to lock up their stores at noon and go home for dinner. Now heir wives lock up the house and come downtown for lunch. I could gt in on the evening train and sell a lui of goods because the stores were epen until nine o'clock, but now if you want to see your customers per- ally after noon you've got to go to the country club. In those ys they discounted their bills; now y discount their golf scores. Those old boys ran their homes and uld tell you they wore the pants; to-day they will brag to you that their ves wear knickers. I remember en they were rabid for Prohibition ; now they are rabid about it. ‘Their wives are the same girls o used to scream when riding be- da fast horse in a red-wheeled y, but their daughters can do rty miles an hour in their roadsters vith one hand and knit a pink swe th the other. “Changed? I didn’t say so. Start iking politics to them or mention good place to fish and you'll find em the same old boys.” McC. H. Notes Here and There Do you “Repeat” on your tires? \WHEN a man observes a pretty girl in a street car he immediately tukes a look at the other men, : ‘ts SILVERTOWN users do; and that’s the test of a We have yet to detect a suburban- © who appeared in the slightest de- tire. SILVERTOWN performance, of course, does ee at ease in a morning coat and it. Back of the performance is the sound manu- top hat. IN THE LONG RUN” Do you buy the same make of tire again? Most eee facturing principle of maintained quality. Skill, Who has ever felt the slightest sat- effort, and care are centered in SILVERTOWN. istaction in blowing the suds off the p of an ice-cream soda? It comes out in performance and repeats. ea 8 Why is it that one, upon entering THE B. F. GOODRICH RUBBER COMPANY ) elevator, invariably pulls a long ESTABLISHED 18 ce and assumes an air of the sever- * solemnity ? In Canada—The B. F. Goodrich Rubber Company, Ltd. SS Toronto + Montreal + Winnipeg y, Goodrich all Christmas gifts, none is more tasteful than this The original household note paper—used rf itch Sterli ity. Spee i vice. Remit with CO D_ West of Denver and outside U.S. add 10% Money refunded if not satisfied. THE AMERICAN STATIONERY CO. SOLD BY GOODRICH DEALERS THE WORLD OVER. —| comicbooks.com