Life, 1925-01-08 · page 25 of 37
Life — January 8, 1925 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes 1920s American automobile culture through two pieces: **"The Indian Sign"** (poems by Berton Braley) mocks the ubiquitous "DETOUR" signs plaguing motorists. The humor targets the explosion of road construction during the auto boom—drivers encounter endless detours that send them through swamps, over terrible terrain, and sometimes back where they started. The "Indian sign" (a folk curse) represents these maddening construction barriers. **"The Party Line"** (by James K. McGuinness) satirizes small-town gossip through rural dialect. It's a monologue of interconnected rumors—about people's marriages, finances, and morality—typical of rural community gossip spreading through shared telephone lines (hence "party line"). **The cartoon** shows a motorist with balloon tires (advertised as superior) encountering road hazards. The caption jokes that drivers must "hold out" for better equipment just to survive deteriorating roads during the construction era. Together, these pieces mock the growing pains of automobile infrastructure and small-town social conformity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE - The Indian Sign \WHENEVER I'm touring Alluring road highways Or asphalted by-ways lhrough countrysides sweet, \Vith motor that’s humming \nd thrumming, | know that— In time, as I go, that I'm certain to meet The sign that is legion whatever the region, The sign that means language impure, The sign that disperses your patience in curses: “DETOUR!” Detour ! Go round through a bog and a moor! Go over a mountain, go down a ravine And follow a rabbit's track over the scene. Go ford a swift river—and ten miles beyond Bump over a pasture and ooze through a pond; Oh, this is a sign it is hard to endure— “DETOUR!” The Party Line “C)L’ Miser Smith was in to Lawyer Phelps’ to add another clause to will on account of th’ money he got r th’ hawg he sold thet same mornin’. “Well, I dunno about Jane, but folks n't be expected to think th’ best of a man thet wears silk stockin's doin’ r housework, “Mary Ellen Brown was sayin’ yes- terday she wouldn't marry th’ best man 1 earth, so I guess you were right bout Joe Wiley goin’ to stay in Noo Yawk fer good. ‘Say what you like, but it’s a small wn can’t have one good scandal. “You take th’ Widow Lyons with her ine children, an’ only t’other day I 1s comfortin’ her an’ sayin’ to her, hildren is nothin’ but expense these There's more moncy in calves.’ “There's only two kinds of women ny more. Them that uses rouge, an’ hem that’s afeard of their husbands. “You can't tell me thet Bill Hargley s sorrowin’ for his wife dyin’, not with im shavin’ twic’t a week.” James K. McGuinness. ays. HE billboards must go. We need the room for hot-dog stands, road- houses, and filling stations. “YES, I HELD OUT FOR BALLOON TIRES. THAT'S THE ONLY WAY TO GET WHAT'S COMING TO You “Detour via Hicksville To Cricksville And Jaytown"— Or some far away town That's not on the map; And then when you get there You're met there With placards That tell Fords or Packards, “Detour to South Yap!” The roadways are racking, your bones all are cracking, Your springs are deformed beyond cure; You somehow keep driving—and find, on arriving, “DETOUR!” Detour ! The landmarks grow fewer and fewer; Detour over cowpatks, detour over sand, Detour over trails that are seemingly planned As mudbaths and swimming-holes. Lost and uncharted, You finally get to the place where you started! Oh, this is the motorist’s nightmare for sure, “DETOUR!” Berton Braley, I HAD TO RAISE AN AWFUL HOWL THESE DAYS. comicbooks.com