Life, 1924-08-14 · page 20 of 36
Life — August 14, 1924 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Life magazine page contains several satirical pieces: **"How It All Happened"** modernizes Cinderella by having her check an "Ingersoll" (cheap pocket watch) instead of realizing midnight has passed. The joke: even magical transformations can't overcome practical reality—and she blames a small town for using daylight-saving time. **"Universal Campaign Song"** mocks 1924 political campaigns by creating absurdist lyrics mixing contradictory regional references and impossibilities ("orange groves of South Dakota," "Rum for all and Down with Rum"). It satirizes how politicians appeal to every region regardless of consistency. **"Variation 1001"** jokes that a job applicant loses a position because the boss—a Life magazine subscriber for 20 years—"knows all the answers," meaning Life's humor has made him too witty to be impressed. **"Too Obliging"** shows a woman so eager to please she promises to think *for* her boyfriend rather than think *of* him—gentle satire on female subservience. All pieces reflect 1920s concerns: modernization, politics, and gender roles.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘ LIFE.= How It All Happened T the last stroke of twelve Cin- derella gazed about her. Every- thing was changed. Her coach was a pumpkin; her prancing steeds, mice, and her flowering romance, gone-to-seed reality. t Realizing vaguely that something had gone terribly wrong, she glanced at her lowly Ingersoll (which a moment before had been a bejeweled wrist-watch) and then at the town clock high above the roofs. Woman- like, she saw her mistake too late. eee “Goodness gracious, Godmother,” OLD HOME WEAK she explained, as she resumed her Universal Campaign Song (To Be Used by All Parties in 1924) BRING the good old bugle, boys! Look away! Look away! California, here I come To the fields of Hoosier hay! "Way down upon the Suwance River In the Blue Ridge hills of Maine From the orange groves of South Dakota Comes our glad refrain— Chorus Victory! Victory! While we shout the chorus From Topeka to the sea! Hear the happy factories hum! Rum for all and Down with Rum! Banks of Wabash— Banks of Wall Echo now our clarion call "Way down yonder in the land of cotton All around the town. Leonard Hall, Variation 1001 THe youthful applicant for the posi- tion entered the employer's office confidently, For every question he had a smart and witty retort; the stenog- rapher swallowed her gum through laughing, but the boss remained calm. At last the questions and answers came to an end. The boss shook his head. “No use, young fellow,” he grunted; “I've been a subscriber to Lire for twenty years and I know all the answers.” He didn’t get the job. Backward “She always was old-fashioned.” station in the chimney corner; “how was I to know that that hick town was operating under daylight-saving time?” Every Port AILOR: I want a ticket to Shanghai, Singapore, Port Said, Naples, Marseilles, Liverpool, Bel- fast, Yokohama, Cape Town and Rotterdam. Ticket Acent:, Why to so many places? Sartor: Well, you sce, this is Old Home Week, the week when a fel- low is supposed to go back and see his girl. TOO OBLIGING “GHE copies everything I wear.” Hg: wit. you THINK oF ME? She: DEARIE, I'LL THINK FOR You! comicbooks.com a c c