Life, 1924-12-25 · page 26 of 37
Life — December 25, 1924 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains satirical humor typical of early 20th-century Life magazine: **"Life's Brass Medal"**: Awards William H. Anderson of the Anti-Saloon League for being convicted of forgery while handling funds in his care, then released early from Sing Sing prison. This is ironic mockery—the "brass medal" implies he's a hypocrite, given the Anti-Saloon League's moral crusading stance. **"The Party Line"**: Rural gossip columns poking fun at small-town social pretensions—people buying expensive goods they can't afford, college-educated women getting unnecessary grooming, new fur coats suggesting hidden mortgages. **The cartoon**: Shows two men discussing a woman's engagement. The joke: she was "a regular piece of ice" (frigid/unfriendly) until she met a "professional skater"—a pun suggesting skating ability metaphorically "thawed" her romantic interest. **Poems**: Lighthearted verses about cosmetics, romance, and wives' behavior—gentle domestic satire. The page reflects 1920s anxieties about social mobility, pretension, and changing gender roles.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WILLIAM 1 the handling of ber 24. Man: happy returns, funds in his care, he “TSURE - LIFE’S BRASS MEDAL THIS WEEK'S WINNER ANDERSON Of the Anti-Saloon League Crration: Having been convicted of forgery in is to be released prematurely from Sing Sing on Decem- r. Anderson.” The Party Line “Bit HAWKINS was into th’ hard- ware store this mornin’ to buy a can opener, so I guess he figur spendin’ his winter in Florida again. “Thet gal ain't natural, I tell Time I took her to th’ they-atre. she didn’t even ery when Eliza was crossin th’ ice. “"You may be right,’ I says to the minister, ‘but if I was you it ain't th’ gals that dances so much I'd watch, but them thet dances so little.’ 1 wouldn't be th’ one to say they ain't law-abidin’ citizens, but I notice kind of thet people thet gets rich sud- den-like out of oil stocks always talks th’ most about how silos makes sech a smell of fermentin’ about a place. “When a middle-aged woman starts primpin’ up again it’s hard to say whether somebody's been makin’ eyes at her or her husband. “Th’ Reynolds gal got such high notions at college they tell me she even goes to th’ barber's to have her neck shaved. “Ever sinc’t Lizzie Wayland got thet new fur coat a body would think there hadn't never been a single mortgage in her whole family. “I'd ast you over for a spell, only I expect maybe I'll be able to get ast cut myseli.” James K. McGuinness. “SHE ENGAGED? Beauty Reflected M lips display a rosy tint Like to the rouge my Lady uses And, equally, my cheek a hint Of her bright color-scheme suffuses. The snowy whiteness of her brow Powders my coat, and her dark lashes Upon my collar leave, somehow, Love's record, done in dots and dashes. I've reasoned with her much and long; Alas, she does not seem to hear me, And all my arguments go wrong When her beguiling face is near me. She makes up... oh, believe me, boy, She does, for every kind of weather, But how can things like that annoy So long as we make up, together? George S. Chappell. The Postgraduate Wife A’ the movies the postgraduate wife keeps one eye on the screen and the other on her husband. At the first droop of a lash or the first yawn she whispers that she would just as soon go. She never asks him to help her take snapshots of the children, set up an antique bedstead or rearrange the furniture. She does not badger him to do his Christmas shopping early, She does it for him. McC. H. NE-HALF of the world doesn’t know how the other half can see anything funny in what it laughs at. WHY, SHE USED TO BE A REGULAR PIECE OF ICE,” “WELL, HE'S A PROFESSIONAL SKATER.” comicbooks.com