Life, 1924-02-07 · page 31 of 40
Life — February 7, 1924 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising** for luxury brands (Dueen Brothers art dealers, Tiffany & Co., Hotel Bermudiana), with two pieces of satirical content: 1. **"Not for Public Reading"** — A humorous poem mocking overwrought dramatic recitations. It parodies the Victorian-era elocution piece "Curfew Shall Not Ring To-Night," replacing its earnest tragedy with absurdist humor (a woman literally rings a bell with her body). The joke satirizes dramatic oratory and melodrama. 2. **"Subway Serials"** — Satirizes serialized fiction in newspapers. It mocks both the overcrowded NYC subway system and the melodramatic plots of pulp fiction—suggesting serialized stories should run on trains instead to ease congestion. The accompanying illustration titled "Reconciliation" appears to be a Rogers Group (sentimental Victorian statuary) parody, ridiculing the saccharine emotionality of popular entertainment. The final line about movie actors giving their "double his due" is unclear without more context.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Duueen Brothers PAINTINGS rT. ‘ YRCELAINS Py VY & ( ee || HIFFANY & CO. ORIETS GUAT JEWELRY PEARLS SILVERWARE Paris ()UALITY THROUGH GENERATIONS Not for Public Reading ‘CvRrew shall not ring to-night And up the steeple he few Until, within the belfry’s height She did what you'd expect her t« MAIL INQuiniES RECEIVE Prompt ATTENTION She seized upon the bell’s co Three times the thickne Thien back and forth the maiden sung FIFTH AVENUE & 372 STREET (Ask any clocutionist.) ; New York But when, triumphant, down she came All in a daily-dozer She lear her cha They'd rung the thing by “Isy'r radio a wonderful thing “Yes; my wife will listen to it!” Subway Serials Tie subways would be so. muc the crowd would the way he pounding at the door insistent. Her heart told in. Her conscience fe a vision of what he she did let him in—ta smiling, his . She Next installmen trains, Chan, It’s a rare movie actor who will give the double his duc comicbooks.com