Life, 1923-11-01 · page 14 of 41
Life — November 1, 1923 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous sketch about the newly installed wireless telephone system in Switzerland's Alpine heights. The joke centers on a man trying to use the device while his wife demands silence for the sunset's beauty. When he finally reaches the telephone operator (in increasingly absurd vocal attempts), the connection produces only cacophony and echoes—defeating the technology's purpose. The satire mocks both the unreliability of early wireless communication technology and the disruption such "modern conveniences" caused to domestic peace. The irony is that this advanced technology meant to improve communication actually creates more noise and frustration. It's a common early-20th-century anxiety about how new gadgets intrude upon traditional family life and natural beauty.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“TAXI?” The Greater Silences (A wireless telephone system has been installed in the Alpine heights of Switzerland—News Item.) CENE: The Swiss Chalet (rented) of Mr. and Mrs. Henry T. Bleep. Mrs. B.: Ah, Henry, how silent! Mr. B.: How peaceful! Mrs. B.: How calm and still! Mr. B.: I have never seen a lovelier sunset. Mrs. B.: Nor I. Do call up the Gloops to come over for a rubber. Mr. B.: Gladly. (He unhooks the Hello— hello! Jungfrau 6544, partie Tue TELEPHONE (in four assorted voices): Ho lee ay lee oo! Ho lee ay lee oo! Mr. B.: Hello! Drat this interference! Jungfrau... THE TELEPHONE (in the voice of a lonesome chamois) : Weenix! Weenix! Weenix! Mr. B.: Hello! Jungfrau... Tue TeLepHoNE: Milk chocolate common closed strong on a steady market... this is station WTY... Mr. B.: Hello... I want Jungfrau, you fool! HONE: Fool! Fool yourself! HONE: Fool yourself! ! I’ve got the neighborhood echo. (Into mouthpiece.) Get off! Get off! Tue TeLepHone: Get off! Get off! Get off! Get off! Get off! Get off! (Jt is a triple echo.) Mr. B. (frantically) : Hello! Hello! ireless telephone.) ‘LIFE = THe TELEPHONE (musically): Nun die Kuh kommt Heim su schlafen. Moo-o0 moo-oo... Mr. B.: Suffering wood carvers! Now I’ve got a cow- herd! Hello! I want Jungfr... Tue TELEPHONE: Toot! Toot! Too-ooo-oot! Mrs. B.: Gracious! What was that? Did I hear some- thing? Mr. B.: That's the Matterhorn. Mrs. B.: Well, stop playing with that thing and get the Gloops. The sunset is almost over. Mr. B. (jiggling the hook): Well, for the last time... Hello! I want Jungfrau 6544... THE TELEPHONE (picking up an avalanche): CRASH! BANG! Grrrrr... plunk... plunkle... oomph...! (Mr B. staggers back from instrument, dragging it with him, and falls out window into deep crevasse.) Mrs. B. (after short interlude): Henry!... Henry!... Ah, he must have fallen asleep. How still and calm it is up here. Courrarn. Henry William Hanemann. The House That Jerry Built AID the master carpenter to the plasterer receiving fourteen dollars a day, as they slapped together a modern home, “The man who lives in this house should put a paper-weight on the roof.” VERY young man has two ambitions—to make a lot of money and to marry a wonderful girl. Eve man succeeds...in marrying a wonderful girl. y young “DE MAN IN ROOM SEBEN HAS DONE HANG HISSELF!” “HANGED HIMSELF? DID YOU CUT HIM DOWN?” “No, SAH! HE AIN’T DEAD YET!” comicbooks.com