Life, 1923-12-06 · page 58 of 84
Life — December 6, 1923 — page 58: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is satire mocking wealthy Americans' self-deception about their opulence. The New-Voes (likely a fictional family name parodying the wealthy "Vanderbilt" class) claim to live a "simple life," but the text reveals absurd contradictions: their "simple" town house has 70-80 rooms; their country estate has 68 rooms plus thousands of acres, multiple golf courses, polo fields, and race tracks. The joke is ironic understatement—each boast of simplicity is immediately contradicted by examples of extravagant luxury, creating humorous tension. This reflects 1920s Progressive-era criticism of the ultra-wealthy's disconnect from ordinary Americans' reality. The political cartoon below shows Santa Claus in a dormitory full of beds, satirizing politicians as self-interested children. The page also includes "A Christmas Plea for Coffee," defending coffee-drinking against Prohibition reformers—referencing the contemporary Prohibition era (1920-1933) when alcohol was banned.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
56 Late E. * The New-Voes Lead the Simple Life HE New-Voes lead the simple life. Of course, they’re very simple people. Everything about them is simple. To begin with, their town house is extremely simple. Tt occupies only half a block. And contains only seventy or eighty rooms. The marble staircase is particularly simple. Almost as simple as the alabaster swimming pool. And the Louis Seize ballroom is the very quintessence of simplicity. Just as is the Cinquecento fountain. Their place in the country is even simpler. Their house has only sixty-eight rooms, and there are just a couple of thousand acres. Of course, they have several garages, two or three gardeners’ cottages, four stables, two golf courses, nine tennis courts, five polo fields, and a race track. And their entertainments are so simple. They seldom invite more than a hundred guests to dinner. And they hardly ever have more than a few thousand at any dance. Everything about them is simple. Especially their friends. You see, the New-Voes lead the simple life. _ Cc. GS. HILD MOVIE FAN: Is that you, Santa Claus? Fatuer: Yes. Lie still! C. M. F.: Drop the whole sack and fade out, or I'll turn my gun on you! A Christmas Plea for Coffee T° please our watchful eagle I keep my drinking legal; I know his eye is on me when I breakfast, lunch and sup; Let weaklings bottle troubles ; I scorn the stuff that bubbles ; While others raise old Harry, I just lift a coffee cup. I sometimes live by writing, By verse and worse inditing ; That prophylactic coffee-pot keeps me from getting slack; My tendency to winking, Homeric-nodding-blinking, Is choked before it gets a start; I take my coffee black, This Yuletide finds me hoping That no reformer, groping For stupid legislation, will disturb my peace and say: “Give up your coffee-pot, sir!” “Please go to where it’s hot, sir,” Will be my frigid answer, “and pack off without delay!” From those who think of measures To check our simple pleasures, From those whose sensibilities no fun or joy allow, From those who smashed our glasses, I'll save the demi-tasses ; Old coffee-pot, you served me well and I'll protect you now. Elias Lieberman. TRE reason there are so many poor poets is that there are so many poor poets. IN THE POLITICAL DORMITORY comicbooks.com