Life, 1923-11-22 · page 12 of 34
Life — November 22, 1923 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains humorous social commentary rather than political cartoons. The main illustration depicts a woman reading love letters aloud to a man, with the caption suggesting romantic correspondence from years past. The joke plays on the contrast between the woman's affected, dramatic reading style ("ah—charming, perfectly charming—what delicacy—what style!") and the implied mediocrity of the actual letters. The surrounding text sections mock British and American stereotypes. "Slants Across the Sea" presents exaggerated generalizations about English people (slow lawyers, thick fog in London, universal poverty). "What the Average Englishman Knows About America" similarly satirizes American traits through stereotypes about money, New York's height, and gun violence. The final "Exaggerations" section lists foods and concepts Americans overstate the quality of.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
10 Page Mr. Whitehead! REAT steps forward have been taken in the playing of auction bridge, but there still remain important gaps unbridged. Unselfish students of the game have done a great service in perfecting the bidding to the point where it is possible to estimate the character and extent of your partner's incompetence with a fair degree of accuracy. If he bids a no-trump and you hold a hundred aces and a couple of kings it is fair to assume that his mind is equally compounded of op- timism and imbecility. A double of an original heart by your partner means that you are not likely to be set more than two if you take the bit in your teeth and bid a no- trump. An original bid of two indi- cates that your partner learned the game in 1910 and has learned little since. These and other matters have been cleared up and bridge has become a de- lightful intellectual pastime with little of the uncertainty that adds to the charm, and expense, of poker. But the etiquette of the game still requires clarifying. When your partner takes you out of a nice safe double, should you content yourself with glaring or Paging ey —e LIFE, - are you permitted to grind your teeth and mutter under your breath? The District Attorney informs us that there has been no case of trumping a part- ner’s trick since 1917. He ascribes this improvement to the increased use of firearms. So far, however, no ade- quate comment has been designed to cover failure to return the partner’s suit. Above all, a suitable penalty, decap- itation preferred, should be prescribed for the man who after butchering four hands in succession shakes his head mournfully and complains that he hasn’t held a good hand for a week. On second thought, beheading is too swift and painless. It might be better to force him to play for the rest of his life with a partner who invariably takes out a no-trump with a weak minor suit. A. B. Life’s Journal —IS for Love, which begins it; I—for the Image that bends it; F—for the Fervor that spins it; E—is for Eros—who ends it. B..F. NGLISH as she is popular song. broken: She (after tearfully reading his love-letters): AND TO—TH-TH-THINK— THAT TWO SHORT YEARS AGO YOU WROTE ME LIKE THIS.... Novelist: AH — CHARMING, PERFECTLY CHARMING — WHAT DELICACY — wat sTYLe! Slants Across the Sea What the Average American Knows About England HAT the Prince of Wales always falls off his horse. : That the English have no sense «f humor. That they are very slow. That their lawyers wear wigs. That King George is only a figu: head. That double eyeglasses are unknown, in England, and that nobody talis sense. That the English are always drin‘:- ing tea or going hunting. That poverty is universal in Englar That London has a thick fog. That New York City is bigger th London. That cricket is a silly game. What the Average Englishman Knows About America That most Americans are uneducate'| That we live and die for money. That we are positively at sea at a social function. That New York's buildings are very high. That our English is frightful. That every American walks aroun with something on his hip. That Paul Whiteman is our leadii exponent of music. That we are a nation of braggarts. That we settle all our quarrels with « gun. That the Ford car is very funny That Dr. Frank Crane is our leadiny writer. That we overdo everything. That we are not to be taken serious!) Edmund J. Kiefer. Exaggerations 'RESH eggs. English mutton. Irish bacon. Delicious soft drinks. Virginia ham. Vermont turkey. Scotch. Paris fashions. Fair to-morrow. Statesmen. The poor workingman. You. Me. “LJOW old is that flapper?” “In her early nicoteens.” comicbooks.com