Life, 1923-11-08 · page 36 of 36
Life — November 8, 1923 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the evolution of college football through the character "Topsy Doolittle," a football player from Princeton. The joke contrasts old-fashioned football culture with modern times. **The Satire:** In the "old days," players grew long beards and whiskers supposedly for shock absorption, but actually because grooming was neglected. This gave football games the appearance of violent conflicts between "delegations from the House of David and some Russian Soviet"—absurdly depicting players as religious Jews or Bolsheviks based purely on their unkempt appearance. The text mocks how spectators were scandalized by this "brutality." **The Point:** Modern padding and equipment make beards unnecessary for protection, so Colgate's Rapid-Shave Cream has made whiskers "as scarce upon athletic fields as monocles in Montana"—a humorous exaggeration suggesting they've become completely obsolete. The cartoon uses football's evolution to advertise the shaving cream while gently mocking earlier generations' concerns about propriety and appearance.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
This diagrammatic magnified cross-section shows bow the ciove, moist lather made by Col Rapid- Shave Cream goe base of each air. The otly coat ing upon the hatr is quickly emul. sified by the lather. "This permits the moisture carned in the lather to sofien the hair at the base it meets the edge of the ra Topsy Doolittle, whose won for Princeten when + N_ spite of appearances, the parents of Topsy Doolittle probably thought that he was worth raising. When famous football stars, who now are obscure bank presidents, insurance brokers, or associate justices, crouched for action and hissed defiance through their whiskers, hardened men lost control of their emotions, and sensitive women closed their eyes, afraid to gaze upon the ‘‘brutal scene.”” In those days reporters could say truthfully that the boys who defended the honor of alma mater bristled with determination, for the most conspicuous thing about old-fashioned football was hair. Players who risked their collar-bones upon the soggy field went unshaved and unshorn, not because they expected hair to give them strength, but owing to their need of shock-absorbing equipment. Unfortunately, however, the shaggy growths which were intended to afford protection accentuated the horrors of gridiron conflicts. A clash between two college teams had the surface appearance of a rumpus involving delegations from the House of David and some Russian Soviet. Deans who saw handfuls of whiskers plucked from the faces of elusive quarterbacks forgot their dignity, and fair maidens fainted when they gazed upon the blood-soaked beards of heroes with whom they had plighted their troth. But all that is past forever. Padded headgear makes it unnecessary for men who play football to try to match the hairy thatches of foreign fiddlers, and Colgate’s Rapid-Shave Cream has made shaving so easy that whiskers have become as scarce upon athletic fields as monocles in Montana. COLGATES Rapid-Shave Cream softens the beard at the base— where the razor’s work is done. You will get the fullest measure of COLGATE & CO. ' shaving comfort when you lather with ht 2 5 ° Colgate’s. tulton St. New York It is more effective than you have Pl d is Cole’ Bagide shave Ge a thought anything could be for softening tter, easier shaving. ; A (ye the beard—and it leaves the face cool, soothed and refreshed after shaving. , Fill out and mail the attached coupon for Address. a free trial tube containing cream enough for 12 better shaves than you have ever had. COLGATE & CO. Est.1806 NEW YORK th in adverti nufacture Name. comicbooks.com