Life, 1924-07-24 · page 24 of 36
Life — July 24, 1924 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two separate humorous pieces satirizing domestic life. The main cartoon by Will James (signed lower left) depicts a cowboy being bucked from a fence by a horse, captioned "He Studied Under Old Masters"—a pun suggesting the horse learned bucking technique from experienced predecessors. Below, Percy Crosby's comic strip shows Mr. and Mrs. McCaffrey: she's eavesdropping on neighbors fighting downstairs when he arrives home. When he complains the noise makes supper late, she hits him, sending him over a baby's crib. The neighbors' subsequent complaint about upstairs noise reveals the irony—the McCaffreys are now creating the same disturbance they were enjoying. The final joke between Beth and Ruth plays on servant employment: Ruth keeps "one coming, and one going"—meaning servants constantly arriving and departing (quitting), suggesting poor treatment or pay. These pieces satirize working-class domestic friction and marital discord as mundane entertainment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Ups and Downs of Married Life fe ELL, of all things!” said little Mr. McCaffrey as he en- tered the flat and found his wife on her hands and knees, with her head resting on the floor. “What's the big idea, anyway ?” “Shh!” returned Mrs. McCaffrey. “They're having a fight downstairs.” “HE STUDIED UNDER OLD MASTERS” “Seems to me,” lemon-squeezed the husband, “if they'd cut it out once in a while, I wouldn't be getting my sup- per an hour late every night!” He was about to duck for the near- est closet, when a swing from Mrs. McCaffrey’s fist sent him toppling over the baby’s kiddie-coop. “Better cut it out now, Joe!" said the woman downstairs. “The people upstairs are knocking.” Percy Crosby. B “TH: How many servants do you keep? Rutn: One coming, and one going. comicbooks.com