Life, 1924-11-27 · page 27 of 37
Life — November 27, 1924 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This *Life* magazine page contains two distinct satirical pieces: **The Ostrich Cartoon**: A visual gag showing monkeys discussing an ostrich running in circles. The joke plays on the phrase "got a tune stuck in your head"—here literally, as the ostrich has a phonograph record physically in its head, causing it to run compulsively. It's absurdist humor typical of early 20th-century comedy. **"Football Dope by the Golf Expert"**: A longer satire mocking sportswriters who apply golf terminology to football analysis. Coaches discuss football strategy using golf jargon—"chip shots," "putts," "tee-offs," "divots," "holing out"—creating deliberate confusion. The joke targets pretentious sports commentary and the absurdity of mixing sports vocabularies. Names like "Coach McFirsin" appear fictional. **"So I Hung Up the Receiver"**: Brief vignettes satirizing telephone etiquette and miscommunication, including a joke about someone claiming to be President Coolidge. The page exemplifies *Life*'s satirical approach: mocking social pretension, miscommunication, and pseudo-expert commentary through wordplay and conceptual incongruity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Second Monkey WHAT AILS THAT FOOL OSTRICH? KEEPS RUNNING THROUGH HIS HEAD. SOME ONE FED HIM A PHONOGRAPH RECORD AND NOW THE TUNE Football Dope by the Golf Expert [s the pitting of Chow against Lynx it the Polo Country Club, next Saturday, the gallery will be offered of the most thrilling contests in ¢ Fall Intercollegiate Tournament. th teams have walked through the ying round with ease, the Chow having trounced Notre Dormy by five and three (five touchdowns and three field goals), while the Lynx turned in cat 64 against the Big Red Team. There is little to choose between the two aggregations. The Chow is longer off the tee, owing to its driving ability, but the short game of the Lynx is uncannily accurate. Miller has been practicing chip shots over the goal posts from the thirty-five-yard line all week and has now corrected his ten- dency to rim the crossbar. Although Rademacher’s forward passing has de- veloped a nasty hook, Coach McPher- son believes that if he will put more weight on his right foot, come back slow and stop pressing, the trouble will straighten out. Coach McFirsin of the opposing forces is not so sanguine. “The line will not keep its head down.” grumbled McFirsin, “Walsh has been topping the ball on every pass. When they ought to be down the field in one, it takes them about three putts to go ten yards. The interference is good, but the tandem plays are not following through with enough snap. The guards have no back- spin at all on their tackling. About all I can count on for distance is the back- field. They have their heads in the wood. Or, you might say, the wood’s in their heads.” This gloomy talk, however, favorite device of canny Coach Me- Firsin to hide his real feelings. “Say no more about it.” declares Coach Mc- Pherson. “’Twill be won by whoever is handiest with his gridiron.” The tee-off will see practically the same line-up as last week, Zubiloff, Camproni, Maxwell and Bloch taking the backfield turf for the Chow. Gray, the Lynx hero who holed out from the forty-five-yard line in last year’s classic, still has remarkable control of hi. pins. “I'll lay as many dead as I can,” he promises modestly. “Divots” Carruthers, one of the Chow mainstays, is not expected to is a compete. He is under suspension for driving a little too heartily into the rough stuff. Caddy, half, may repls : second-string Henry William Hanemann, So I Hung Up the Receiver “YVOU ought to have it by this time— it left here fully twenty-five min- utes ago.” “What is it you want to speak to Mr Skirmish about? Perhaps I can help you.” “There was a long-distance call for you from Meriden, but they don’t want you any more. “Dr, Bulloway sees patients only by appointment.” “Would you mind spelling that name, please “Will you excuse it, please?” “This is President Coolidge speak- FLW. ing——" ELEN: How far did you go? Hazet (returning from auto- mobile ride): Not quite to the first kiss. comicbooks.com