Life, 1924-04-24 · page 6 of 36
Life — April 24, 1924 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two separate satirical pieces: **"The Mah Jongleur"** (top): A poem mocking the 1920s craze for mah-jongg, the Chinese tile game that became wildly fashionable among American society. The cartoon depicts two men playing, with humorous observations about the game's popularity replacing traditional pastimes. **"Cooks and the Cosmos"** (bottom): A political satire by Fairfax Downey advocating for protective tariffs on imported cooks. The text references Ellis Island and immigration policy, arguing that American households should prioritize hiring domestic cooks. The cartoon shows politicians and voters debating this issue with exaggerated gestures, satirizing protectionist economic arguments of the era. Both pieces reflect 1920s American anxieties: faddish leisure trends and nativist immigration concerns disguised as economic policy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WHY DON'T YOU TRY A WORM? Unsuccessful Dry-Fly § 1 WORMS! MY GOOD MAN, YOU AND 1 DON'T SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE Native: 1 GUESS THAT'S RIGHT, BUT THE FISH SEEM TO UNDERSTAND ME BETTER. ah Feinstein really such a good busi AVING enlisted the aid of Tex ness man? Rickard and Flo Ziegfeld, the “I give you my word, if he found the Democratic Party should not over wolf at his door some night he'd sell look Max Reinhardt, who produces you a silver et the next morning.” miracles. Voter: Now, LET ME SEE; LET ME GET THIS CLEAR. The Mah Jongleur ‘ glaring characters; six little Once I held a str queen Suild a house of bamboo; fashion it Ii you are the Ea the West Still I like my po James K. McGuinn Cooks and the Cosmos WE. are ritir man—and we the <—protestin protect ally hostil in that respect. It has given us indiges tion There was a time, we admit, when ed cooks that were ¢ hun i per cent, American, but that was efore their wages got the same way Now we are urging thd any immigrant who declares at Ellis Island that she is a cook or is willing to try to be a ¢ be detained there only long enoug us or some Once such a cook is captured, we arc willing to give bond that our houschold will make her happy and at home. F that purpose we have become mopolites. We have on hand a large file of recipes for national dishes. Come what cook may, we are ready for her. Or if she choos may exercise the right of seli-determination of menus Similarly, we have read up on national 1s and folklore for dinner- ersation, and we can render any given anthem on short notice We are informing our Congress- man of these preparations, to convince him of rity in ating that the admission of cooks to this country be based not on a quota law but on a bonus Let Congress. we demanded, in this ing question lay aside it y of laissez faire and adopt one of cherches la fe comicbooks.com