Life, 1924-07-03 · page 10 of 36
Life — July 3, 1924 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains satirical pieces about American leisure and class: **"Intelligence Test for Taxi Drivers"** presents humorous practical scenarios taxi drivers might face, including moral dilemmas (arguing with customers, handling lost valuables) and mechanical problems. It's satirizing working-class transportation workers as figures worthy of testing. **"Luxury"** mocks wealthy Bronx residents celebrating Independence Day by taking the subway downtown—presenting this as an ironic "luxury" for the rich, satirizing both upper-class pretension and the crowded subway experience. **"The Old-Fashioned Fourth"** depicts a traditional father celebrating July 4th with his children through fireworks, then receiving an unexpected kiss from his daughter. The brief dialogue joke suggests he made money through a correspondence course—poking fun at get-rich-quick schemes popular in that era. The overall tone critiques class divisions and American consumer culture.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
* LEE + Intelligence Test for Taxi Drivers | WHAT is the shortest distance between two points? * Draw a diagram to illustrate your answer, giving all intersections, right-hand turns, detours and one-way streets. 2. What are traffic regulations? (Do the best you can with this question; you can't know everything.) 3. Explain the metric system. Can a clock be made to register more (a) by banging over the worst bumps in the road? (b) by speeding up and then jamming on the brakes? (c) by a little judicious work with a hammer and a screw- driver? When, if ever, should the light by the clock be turned on? 4. How long should you argue with a customer before you hit him? 5. Which, in your opinion, has the right of way: (a) a baby carriage? (b) a woman? (c) a mail truck? 6. What is change for a dollar? Five dollars? Ten dollars? Is there any such thing? 7. Solve the following problem. You have taken your fare from point X to point Y, stopping at points M, N and O on the way. The clock reads $14.60, but the fare refuses to pay it. It is now three-thirty in the morning, on a lonely road. The fare is wearing a platinum watch, a ruby stick pin and emerald cuff-links, There is a socket wrench in the right-hand pocket by the driver's seat. What, in the interests of your company, is the best thing to do? Henry William Hanemann, Luxury IRST Citizen or THE Bronx: Are you going to cele- brate the Fourth by going out of town, too? Seconp Ditto: Not on your life. I am going to wait until every one has gone, and then I'm going to ride down- town in the Subway—sittin’ down! Wreck Victim: WHATCHA STARIN’ AT? GET ME OUTA THIS, WHY DON'TCHA! “HOW WAS IT KNOW YA WANTED RESCUIN’? 1 THOUGHT Y' WAS DOIN’ ONE OF THEM ‘TIME TO RETIRE’ ADS!" The Old-Fashioned Fourth I AM an old-fashioned, dutiful father. I stay at home and bore my children on the Fourth of July. I help my sons set off firecrackers and show them how we did it when I was a boy. You ought to see them trying to appear interested. I am on hand to meet my daughters’ callers. No amount of polite tolerance abashes me. I make the young men feel they are welcome in my house. Sometimes they almost make me feel the same way. There is nothing like being what I call a “pal” to your youngsters. Last year, after the last rocket was sent up, my elder daughter slipped up to me and whispered, “Daddy, you've been wonderful all day. Will you let us go out to the Country Club now and have a good time?” —_—_ McC. H. PEcSY: How did he make his money? Potty: Oh, he got up a correspondence course for “THE OLD WINDMILL” giving correspondence courses! comicbooks.com