Life, 1923-11-22 · page 10 of 34
Life — November 22, 1923 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon illustrates a winter scene with the caption "Why is you-all so happy?" / "Done los' mah job." The humor relies on dialect comedy and class commentary common to early 20th-century American satire. A man in tattered clothing celebrates having lost his employment, suggesting that poverty or joblessness paradoxically brings contentment—possibly because it frees him from labor obligations or removes pretense. The "Paradise Enow" title references contentment with simple circumstances. The cartoon likely satirizes either working-class resilience or, conversely, mocks those perceived as lazy or content in destitution. The dialect spelling ("you-all," "los'," "mah") reflects the period's stereotyping of rural or Southern workers, which was typical of *Life* magazine's satirical approach during this era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE - CNecs Roos Diary November Lay late, pondering my exceeding forehanded- 15th ness this year in ordering my Christmas pres- : ents betimes and my adroitness in having monograms on so many of them, for Lord! the egotism of mortals is such that most people would liefer have an object costing two dollars and bearing their initials than one costing twenty which lacks the personal touch. Sam tells me, moreover, that the capitalization of engraving firms is based on such psychology. I did not have the good fortune, I might add, to find any articles priced at two, dollars....Roused finally by Marge Boothby, whose will power has broken again under the strictness of her diet, and she longed to come to lunch with me on the most for- bidden viands I could assemble, so I bade her come ahead, and told cook to have eggs d la Russe first and then Smith- field ham with orange confiture and plenty of noodles sauté, followed by an alligator pear salad, and Marge quoth, when she beheld the fare, Here I go—both feet in the trough! .And we talked of what we could do to earn our livings if suddenly deprived of our incomes, and Marge thinks shc might make out as a manicure, but I should set up as a fortune teller and let the world beat a path to my door. MN A letter on the first post from Emmy A; lovember : 16th drews, full of contumely against the Amer icans she encounters in her travels, and telling how one woman had halted in the Acropolis to powder he nose, which Emmy deemed a sacrilege, but I do remembe thinking continually of dry cleaners whilst I was in Rome and wondering what success they would have with th fine old dust of centuries which was daily settling deepe in my garments....To luncheon at Maillard’s with Ev Cummings and Zella Grover, and Zella stepped first with out hesitating into the motor and through all doors, ex plaining that she had lately come to find herseif the most elderly in any given group and considered it a waste of time to back and fill until such subtleties might be deter (Continued on page 32) PARADISE ENOW “WHY IS YOU-ALL SO HAPPY?” “DONE LOS’ MAH JOB.” comicbooks.com