Life, 1924-10-09 · page 29 of 36
Life — October 9, 1924 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains **two satirical stories** mocking early 20th-century American attitudes: **"Disillusion"** satirizes naive voter enthusiasm. A young woman votes for the first time, convinced one candidate will bring utopian prosperity ("the millennium"). She's crushed the morning after when her daily life remains unchanged—the baker still delivers wrong orders, the maid oversleeps, the water still drips, bacon isn't crispier, her husband forgets money for the tailor. The joke: voting won't fix mundane personal problems, deflating her idealistic expectations. **"Tuning Up for the Day"** mocks pseudo-spiritual self-improvement fads. A man named Sylvester spends 20 minutes cultivating "sympathy, knowledge and poise" and "tuning with the infinite" before work—adopting an affected smile and posture of enlightenment—only to be comically undermined by trivial domestic chaos (his wife hid his book to stop the baby chewing it). Both stories satirize American optimism, whether political or self-help oriented, as naïve and disconnected from reality. The page also features period cigarette and tobacco advertisements.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
| | | | Disillusion Younc Mrs. Rogers had voted for the first time. She had considered the candidates with the utmost care, until iter months of reading and listening- 1 she had come to realize that the ection of the one meant chaos, while x¢ election of the other meant unprece- lented prosperity and happiness; so of ourse she voted for the millennium- ringer. With beating heart and anxious eyes ie watched the returns. Hurrah, her ndidate was elected! The country as saved! The millennium was at ind! She went to bed happy. The next morning she awoke and 1s astonished and hurt to discover— That the baker as usual had left the wrong order, That Hetty, the maid, hadn't risen a minute earlier, That the cold water spigot still dripped, That the breakfast bacon was no crisper than before, And that her husband had for- gotten to leave her money to pay the tailor. There will be one more receiving set ined in on a jazz orchestra the next ime the candidates begin to broadcast. B, B. Tuning Up for the Day Looxinc at his watch, Sylvester ound he had been cultivating sym- athy, knowledge and poise for twenty minutes. He still had ten minutes for setting in tune with the infinite before ving to town, Smiling the smile of the larger un- lerstanding, holding the crown of his head high and keeping his chin enerous and tolerant toward mankind, conscious that nobody could injure him, TOBACCO POUCH Just Made For You [CRIES is the perfect Tobacco Pouch. Handy, compact, good looki Patent closing device opens casy or tight at simple pull of tab across top of pouch. No strings or butte ee leathers, varied styles. self a Locktite Pale day. $1 and up, at cigar stores and wherever smokers’ articles are sold. Write direct if dealer can- not supply. LIFE - ( CHURCHILL DOWNS G A R E T T FAMOUS ALL BLACK You'll see them at wr oh AY you cae every smart party! (/ Just as sure as you'll find a stag line, a punch bowl, a striped vest on the footman, you'll find Churchill Downs, the smartest cigarette ever presented to society. Black and gold’s a favorite. Black and silver and plain black are good. Whites come in gold, plain and cork ends. Finest Macedonian tobacco. Boxes of 10, 50 and 100. Ask your best tobacconist. If he can’t supply you, write to us. Distributors for America Churchill Downs Cigarettes Hudson's Bay Tobacce Ben Wade Pipes he walked rhythmically over to the drawer and found the book. He shelf to get his infinity book, the blue turned to the chapter headed: “Seren- one in half-ooze. ity, the Master Word of the Over It was not there. Man.” McC. H In a rage he strode without rhythm and with his chin protruding to the head of the stairs. “Which one of you took ‘In Har- mony with the Universe’ out of my room?” he bellowed. His timid and distraught wife an- Swered from below: “I put it in the drawer of your desk to keep the baby from chewing the cover.” i 7 masterful gesture threw open the —Buen Humor (Madrid.) comicbooks.com