Life, 1924-07-31 · page 22 of 36
Life — July 31, 1924 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* contains three satirical pieces mocking American society: **"The Success"**: A story about artist Blake painting a wealthy businessman (J.W. Quirk). Blake admits he used a burglar who resembled Quirk as his model, yet critics praised it as capturing Quirk's "innermost soul." The satire targets both wealthy businessmen and art critics—suggesting the wealthy are morally indistinguishable from criminals, and critics are gullible frauds. **"The Simple Farmer"**: A farmer instructs his hired man to hide modern magazines (country lifestyle publications, *Life*, radio magazines) and replace them with old-fashioned materials (Almanac, Bible, Horatio Alger) before summer boarders arrive. The joke mocks rural Americans performing false rusticity for urban visitors seeking "authentic" farm experience. **"The Suburbanite Sings"**: Brief verse about a neighbor's watered garden causing rain on the speaker's property—satirizing suburban pettiness masked as cheerfulness. All three pieces target American pretense and shallow values.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“WHAT AKE YOU FISHING FOR, BO “VM PISHIN’ FER BASS, BUT THESE DARN FOOL BULLHEADS DON'T SEEM TU KNow 17.” The Success “QUCCESS,” Blal is a queer affai “Tt is,” I as an artist, remarked my friend Blake, is always keen on digging reed ; and waited. into things for morals and first causes and that sort of thing. Usually he is instructive and always interesting. “Do continued Blake, “recall my portrait of J. W. Quirk? The philanthropist. and Big Business king, you know. The Success of Successes. fact, that the only sitting he would allow me was the day he dropped in to give me the commission.” “But that’s absurd,” I. said. could you possibly do anything in one sittin; “Well, to tell the truth, solution hardly my own. It tumbled in upon me one night, with intent to steal. A simple, unadulterated burglar, my dear chap, but facially such a dead ringer for old J. W. Quirk him self that I clapped a gun on him and kept him posing till the portrait was done.” “And it was a_ success?” I “Queer is right, Blake!” “Yes,” grinned Blake, “the critics went wild over it. But the really queer part is that not only did they hail it as a surprisingly good likeness, they went 1, by any chane Se much so, in “How the final was said. even farther. They insisted that I had magically divined, and set down for all to read, the very innermost soul of dear old J. W. Quirk himself.” G.R. UMMER GUEST: How has busi- ness been this summer? Hoten-Keerer: Not so good. There have been nights when we've had only one person to a cot. The Suburbanite Sings of Neighborly Love as the wind, "M feeling as gay My laughter rolls over the plain, My neighbor's just watered his whole garden o'er, And now it’s beginning to rain! B. B. The Simple Farmer ARMER BROWN was talking to his hired man: “Have you got all the canned good hidden away?” “Yes, sir.” “Have you put the moss on the well- bucket ? “Yes, sir.” “Have you removed the Countr Gentleman, Pictorial Review, Lire and the Radio Magazine from the sittin: room table and replaced them with the Almanac, the family Bible and the copy of Horatio Alger?” "Yes; sir.” “Have you taken that gross of car- tridges from Sears, Roebuck, made ’em look like old Continental scattered them through the cornfield and the potato patch?” “Yes, sir.” “Then tell Freddy to take those trout we got from New York to-day out of the ice-box and hang them on a string to the porch, and when you've done that you can hitch up and meet the first of the summer boarders coming in on the four-fourteen.” bullets and Motorist: THANK HEAVEN, YOU'RE NoT HURT! “BUNK! WHAT DO YOU CARE ‘ROUT ME? COMFORT YOU'D ‘A’ HIT ME HARDER AND KNOCKED ME 13 IF YOU'D BEEN THINKIN’ OF MY THE SHADE.” comicbooks.com