Life, 1924-10-02 · page 7 of 41
Life — October 2, 1924 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two satirical pieces about American regional dialects and urban character: **"Chicago Lyric"** (with apologies to Carl Sandburg) is a parody of Sandburg's famous poem "Chicago." Where Sandburg celebrated the city's industrial strength, this version mocks Chicago's rough, unrefined character—its boisterous workers, polluted air, and chaotic growth. **"So You're from New York"** catalogs regional stereotypes: Boston's affected speech, Philadelphia's vulgarity, New Orleans' courtesy, Detroit's suspicion, Los Angeles' pretension, but Chicago's distinguishing feature is its *loudness*. **"The Uses of Obscurity"** presents a brief joke where a gentleman asks a haberdasher for an obscure union suit, hoping its obscurity means less advertising payment required. The cartoons and text collectively satirize American regionalism and urban culture of the early 20th century.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Chicago Lyric (IVith Apologies to Mr. Cart Sandburg) N old man still lives who can remember Chicago when it had only one street. In came the ships, the lake steamers, the steel ore- boats, cursing, crowding each other into the har- bor. Ships lugging steel ore, canned goods, auto- We gouged it out of the earth in hunks, malicsiand) Swedes: and shoveled it up with smoky steam-shovels Like red mushrooms grew the factories; the factery and grub-hooks. chimneys cut the sky-line, throwing inky spirals across the horizon. The wind blew east and the smoke went west. The wind blew west and the smoke went cast. The wind stopped and the smoke went up the chimney just the same. Bohunks and wops, Dagoes and husky niggers, spit on their hands, sweat under their shirts, shoveled out the dirt. 5 ‘ Pastors and policemen preached and whistled. Poli- Up sprang steel skyscrapers, climbing steel, blue steel, ticians, fish-eyed, pot-bellied politicians, slipped chilled steel made with men in tough burgs, day into town, The politicians and the policemen got gangs, night gangs, built with blood of men, together; the churches tolled. built with smoke, plug tobacco, and searing red- A mighty city had been slapped together—a husky hot metal. bull-necked, barrel-waisted, he-citizen’ with hi Like the web of a spider, a grasping spider, crawled on its chest. the streets, the new dirt streets, across green And an old man still lives meadows. To-day plausible real estate agents— who can remember Chicago when it had only to-morrow sewer assessments. ‘one street. Sherman Ripley. “So You're from New York” N Boston, it is said with a conde- scending air, and a slight screwing down of the corners of the mouth. In Philadelphia, with an inflection of amazement and a politely smothered yawn, In New Orleans, with the casy cour- tesy of the South. In Des Moines, heartiiy. In Detroit, a little suspiciously, with an appraising glance from head to foot. In Los Angeles, with a contemptuous snort and an abrupt turning away. But in Chicago, it is accompanied by a loud, raucous laugh that may be heard for blocks. Stanley Jones. The Uses of Obscurity NTLEMAN (to haberdasher) : I'd like a union suit, please. Some- thing .not so well known that I'd have to pay for the advertising. Descendant of Mrs. O'Leary's Cow: aut, WHAT'S THE USE? we ee Eat comicbooks.com