Life, 1925-01-01 · page 25 of 37
Life — January 1, 1925 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine contains several satirical pieces mocking 1920s American social habits: **"As It Would Be Now"** imagines Cleopatra and Mark Antony speaking in modern Jazz Age vernacular—obsessing over theater tickets, cocktails, dinner reservations, and nightclub culture. The joke is the absurd contrast between ancient historical figures and contemporary shallow materialism. **"Opulence"** is a brief quip about wealth: the Simpsons are now *so* rich they can afford to stay home rather than travel south—inverting normal status symbols. **"New Year's Eve"** contrasts old traditions (resolutions/self-improvement) with modern ones (restaurant reservations)—satirizing how materialism has replaced moral reflection. The **Wall-Paper Salesman** cartoon jokes about a crossword-puzzle wallpaper keeping a couple busy for years—suggesting marital discord or boredom. **"The Child"** darkly jokes about casual divorce among the wealthy, with a child casually asking about multiple divorces before her parents' current marriage—mocking both marital instability and parental detachment. The recurring theme: 1920s upper-class excess, materialism, and moral emptiness.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
As It Would Be Now Cleopatra Meets Mark Antony Cc )LD days like these certainly give an appetite, don’t they? I'm | I'm not on a diet any more. Gave the air last week. I can look a re it of calories in the eyes now with- rt ling. { believe I could stand a snack of . since you mention it. Let's go to Litz. They've got an orchestra uld give a paralytic St. Vitus’ dan “Have you seen the new ‘Fozzles'? Nv ither have I. You know I've been ilmost every show in town, but how every time I'm asked there have something else—oh, would you? Tow lor But I'm afraid it’s hard tickets down front unless you y from an agency like Fryson’s. They ve a branch in the Litz. Just to the ht after you enter. That's perfectly ling of you. Sixth row? Simply immense. I love theatre, don’t you? Seems to start evening off right. Like an appeti- You always feel like going some- here if you've been to a show first. I », anyway, I hope you're not the sort f person that grows sleepy around twelve o'clock. “Oh, there are any number of them, t isn’t even necessary to carry a flask. I know most of the head waiters at the ipper clubs. “We'll have to rush through tea to ave time to dress. Oh, of course. 1 houldn’t think of going out otherwise. “Then I'll expect you about seven That's carly enough for dinner. We can go to some place handy. It doesn’t matter if we're half an hour late for the ‘Fozzles.’ “IT must run now. I want to mix a cocktail before I start to make up for the evening. Oh, well, if you insist. Just one and I must hurry off. I hate drinking alone, anyway. Ta! ta! until seven.” James K. McGuinness. Opulence “ARE the Simpsons going South this year?” “Oh, no! Simpson has made so much money recently they can afford to stay at home.” New Year’s Eve HEN—Resolutions. Now—Reservations. Wall-Paper Salesman: THIS CROSSWORD PUZZLE PAPER IN A N TWELVE ROOM WILL KEEP TWO PEOPLE BUSY FOR SIX YEARS. SA RATT onsen S The Child: MOTHER, HOW MANY TIMES WERE WE DIVORCED BEFORE WE MARRIED FATHER? comicbooks.com