Life, 1924-08-07 · page 8 of 36
Life — August 7, 1924 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct sections: **Left Column ("When"):** A humorous list of situations that define becoming a "Go-Getter"—someone obsessively focused on self-improvement and ambition. The joke satirizes early 20th-century business culture's emphasis on constant productivity and success-chasing, even in absurd contexts (changing boiled collars daily, using statistics to win arguments). **Right Section ("Innocents Abroad"):** A dialogue satirizing naive tourists who overthink outdoor activities. The humor mocks urban people's anxiety about nature and their tendency to over-prepare or worry excessively about minor dangers. **Bottom Cartoon ("In a Department Store"):** Shows a very large woman requesting a baby bathtub, claiming it's for a child weighing "two tons' displacement." The joke relies on physical comedy—her massive size makes the request absurd—typical of early Life's body-humor style.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Whe WHEN the Big Boss says, “How're —when you seriously take to the memo. habit. —when you notify the girl who take dictation that you are going into con ference. —when you tell a friend over the phone, “Sorry, old man, but give me a ring next week,” —when you discover that a group of people have sat through your speech without laughing. —when you decide to make —when you are made something. —when some one in the company you at the wheel of the new car. —when “I don't quite agree with comes rather casily. you take to changing boiled collar every day —when you get to producing placards of figures and graphs to clinch your arguments, you, --when your and finally —when you set your teeth and man’s licked till he quits !"—why, Ye Were iliva ta, Salesmonk: Mrs. Hippo WHERE IGNORANCE IS BLISTERING boy, you are in the first stage of be- coming ter and, for God's sake, do something about it! Stanley Jones. “"THIS apartment is im : plained Bluebeard ; single place to ha " com- here isn’t a ossible, ng a wife.” IN A DEPARTMENT STORE Mrs, Hippo: t WANT A BABY’S BATHTUB. WHAT SIZE, PLEASE? OH, SOMETHING FOR A CHILD OF ABOUT TWO TONS’ DISPLACEMENT. MADAM, Innocents Abroad “JT doesn’t look a bit like rain, so why bother to put up the tent?” “I don't believe that is poison ivy, Poison ivy ought to look more danger- ous than that.” ‘Yes, if I lean out a little farther, [ can just reach that water lily. “Really, it doesn’t take long to get a tan. I'm going to stay under the sun all day, and I bet I get a good on “Oh, ver mind bringing alc water. We'll find a good spring or wel or something.” “Nonsense. You can tell mushroor from toadstools by the flavor.” “They say he can always take a jc Watch me put ants in his bedding.” “Oh, those ‘No Trespassing’ sig mean tramps. The farmer won't obje if we shoot a few squirrels.” “I'm not afraid of that bull. Y can't believe all you read in the sections.” “Yes, if we take an expensive new c out into the wilds, we'll be worryir about it all the time. We'll take the old Ford and just enjoy ourselves.” Horace Woodmansee, comicbooks.com