Life, 1924-08-07 · page 22 of 36
Life — August 7, 1924 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several satirical pieces typical of early 20th-century Life magazine humor: **"Official Intercourse"** defines a diplomat as someone skilled in lying to other liars while all parties pretend to believe each other—a cynical commentary on diplomatic hypocrisy. **"From the Diary of a Modern Girl"** satirizes the fickleness of young women, listing a series of men she's fallen in love with in rapid succession (George, Tom, Harry, Will, etc.), culminating in admitting she loves someone whose name she doesn't even know. This mocks both female romanticism and the dating culture of the era. **"The Hand of Fate"** appears to be a humorous short story subverting dramatic tension—a man hears "ominous" sounds, feels trapped, only to discover his wife simply wants him to build a wall. The anticlimax jokes about domestic obligations. **"Pleasure and Profit"** jokes that a businessman found inspiration for a profitable marketing slogan by seeing the Sphinx in Egypt—treating exotic tourism as merely a means to commercial gain. The cartoons use visual gags and exaggeration typical of the period's satirical style.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“I'M GOING TO PRUNE THOSE APPLE TREES.” “BUT, FRANK, YOU KNOW I DON'T CARE FOR PRUNES.” Official Intercourse “DOP, what is a diplomat?” “A diplomat, my son, is a gentleman who can tell a lic in such a manner to another gentleman, who is also a diplomat, that the second gentleman is compelled to pre- tend that he really believes the first gentleman, although he knows that the first gentleman is a liar, who knows that the second gentleman does not believe him.” THEY CALL HIM “TIMID HENRY” IN THE DAYTIME From the Diary of a Modern Girl ULY 19—I have fallen madly in love with George. July 24— * & sid Tom, July 23— ‘ i Harry. Aug. 3— ‘ Will. Aug. — Ned. Aug. 17— ‘! Dave. Aug. 23— Jack. Aug. 29— Bob. Sept. 7— Dick. Sept. 15— ji “ ‘ Jim. Oct. 1—For the first time in my life I am really in love He is tall and slim and dark, but I have no idea what his name is. It is wonderful, being in love. C.G.S. The Hand of Fate THE almost tropic heat of the evening permeated the low-ceiled living-room of the stucco and frame bunga low. Richard Ainsworth stood in the doorway gazing out across the now deserted porch. Outside in the summer night weird noises betokened the presence of strange noc- turnal insects. A sense of foreboding filled his being; something was impending. Suddenly he heard an ominous rattle. He turned, then made a start as if to flee, but it was too late. He was trapped.” In an agony he heard his wife's voice: “Dick! Come right in and build your wall! We're all waiting for you.” Pleasure and Profi “Was your trip to Egypt a success?” “I'll say it was. Seeing the Sphinx gave me an idea for a slogan that'll increase our business at least forty per cent. next year.” YOU OUGHT To SEE HIM AT NIGHT comicbooks.com