Life, 1923-11-29 · page 15 of 38
Life — November 29, 1923 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon**: Shows two well-dressed adults and street children. The caption indicates the "Tough Kid" is asking if these are his parents, sarcastically suggesting they're orphans despite the adults' apparent wealth. This satirizes class disparity and indifference—affluent people passing by poor children without acknowledging social responsibility. **"A Plea for Accuracy"**: This section mocks flowery, imprecise literary writing by citing absurd fractional descriptions ("quarter-crazed," "three-eighths-dead"). It advocates for precise language in literature and humorously offers a "Fractional School of Literary Expression." **"Between the Acts"**: A brief joke about Prohibition, with a mother asking why men are going out—the response suggests checking if Prohibition has ended. **Right Illustration**: A classroom scene where a student answers that America exports "missionaries" to China—apparently a satirical comment on American missionary activity abroad.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
—_ P Py Tough Kid (to little boy): on! ’s THAT YOUR FATHER AN’ MOTHER?—yYoUu DON’T SAY! ORPHAN, HUH, Kip? A Plea for Accuracy 'HERE is nothing like exactness, even in romance- writing. It would seem, from such banal expressions as, “The man was half-mad”"—“A_ half-dead thing”’—“With a smile half-sad, half-jo; that story writers have been so schooled in fractions, they only “know the half of it, dearie.” What a thrilling novelty if a novelist should spring this one on us: “The man rose from his seat, quarter-crazed.” . Or, “When they found the girl, she was three-cighths-dead.” Or, “Marcia smiled, a smile four-elevenths of joy, seven- elevenths of sadness.” Or, “Peter was drunk, very drunk—one-and-five-cighths- drunk.” Acting on this brilliant thought, we have founded a Fractional School of Literary Expression. Any one wish- ing to take a course therein may send us his matriculation fee, immediately; on receipt of which, we will dispatch said sender his first lesson, plus one emotional ruler free of charge. Cyril B. Egan. Between the Acts | OTHER, why are all the men going out?” “Oh, just to see if Prohibition is over.” Teacher: GEE! YOU CERTAINLY AIN’T NO WHAT RAW MATERIAL DOES AMERICA EXPORT TO CHINA? Pupil: MIssIonarIEs. comicbooks.com