Life, 1924-10-23 · page 29 of 36
Life — October 23, 1924 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three distinct pieces of humor plus a General Motors advertisement. **"Sweet Music"** is a short poem contrasting musical instruments people enjoy with the speaker's preference for engine noise—the "steam hissing in the radiator." It's gentle satire on automotive culture's growing dominance in American life. **"Radiographically Speaking"** satirizes upper-middle-class women obsessed with radio as a status symbol. The characters—Mrs. Taylor, Julie, Elinor, Vera, and Leanora—boast about which radio stations they listened to during vacations in New York, Cuba, and Montreal, referencing actual early radio call letters (WEAF, CHYC, PWX, KW). The humor lies in treating radio reception and programming as markers of sophistication and worldliness, a joke about how newly popular radio broadcasting had become a social obsession. **The brief closing quip** about women fearing their first love becoming permanent is unrelated observational humor. The **General Motors advertisement** "From Gold to Glass" emphasizes the vast materials and scale involved in car manufacturing, positioned as economical and beneficial to consumers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Sweet Music To some the saxophone is most aliur- ing, While others to the piccolo succumb; The violin has friends whose love's enduring ; Salvation comes to many through the drum. ator, And bagpipes cheered the Scot to victory ; But the steam that's hissing in the radi- ator Is the sweetest sound in all the world to me. A, H. Radiographically Speaking Ir is the first Monday in October, which means that it is the first at home of Mrs. J. Lathrop Taylor. About her are grouped “the girls,” matrons of a certain age and uncertain complexions, They have assembled for a comfortable chat before the “crowd” arrives. “Did you have a nice vacation, Julie?” asks the hostess benignly of the young- est member of the group. “I've always wanted to try the city in the summer, but for some reason or other I don't seem to get to it...” “Oh, it was splendid!” Julie sparkles with enthusiasm. “So good for baby, too. You can't beat WEAF, really. Every morning there was a mothers’ program and in the late afternoon a talk on the summer care of babies. Be- sides the regular schedule for John.... They kept it right up to par, too, spite of the weather. New York is really the Radiocapital of the country.” “I suppose so,” muses Elinor Taylor. “However, I did find the C Stations decidedly refreshing. Musical teas every afternoon—so thoroughly British, And that delightful accent! CHYC particu- larly. The Royal Highlanders’ Band! Quite ultra, you know!” “I do think it’s broadening to get out of the United States, though I am always glad to get back,” Vera Long- worth, a faded but persistent blonde, contributes. “We found Cuba very pleasant, considering the season. Nice concerts by PWX and really fascinat- ing native stuff from Tuinacu—KW, you know. There is something about Spanish music...” “I can't see any point in being so limited.” Leanora Morse, a tightly garbed brunette, gazes at them all through her lorgnette. “New York, Montreal, Havana...what’s the use? We bought two extra tubes and—went to Paris...” A. McM. Surety there’s nothing a woman dreads so much as the possibility of that First Love turning out to be permanent. The martial trumpet stirred the gladi- A freight train of 8300 cars would be required to. carry the steel used by General Motors in a year. From gold to glass Tuese are some of the materials used in the manufacture of General Motors cars: Gold, platinum, diamonds and tungsten; iron, steel, copper, tin and zinc; coal, clay, cement, sand, gravel and lime; grease, oil and chemicals; cotton, jute, hair and leather; lumber and glass. The leather used in a year would cover 150 city blocks; the lumber would build homes for 50,000 people; the steel would furnish the framework of 16 Woolworth Buildings. By coordinating the purchases of its divi- sions, General Motors is able to effect econ- omies in materials of the highest quality; and these savings, in the form of increased car value, find their way to you. GENERAL MOTORS Buick + Capittac + CHevroter + OAKLAND Otpsmositt. «+ GMC Trucks General Motors cars, trucks and Delco-Light products may be purchased on the GMAC Payment Plan. Insurance service is furnished by General Exchange Corporation. comicbooks.com