Life, 1925-03-26 · page 22 of 37
Life — March 26, 1925 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains satirical commentary on 1920s American life: **"Slightly Misleading"**: Mocks the beauty industry's deceptive practices. Two men discussing furniture restoration are revealed to work in a beauty parlor—the joke being that modern beauty treatments resemble aggressive restoration work (scraping, smoothing, painting), not natural enhancement. **"Why Do Men Take Off Their Hats in the Elevator?"**: Humorous pseudo-scientific analysis of male behavior in elevators, listing increasingly absurd reasons (wives present, potential affairs, recent engagements/divorces). The satire targets masculine social anxiety and hypocrisy about propriety. **"Little Boy Weeks"**: A poem referencing the Billy Mitchell court-martial scandal (1925), where the Air Force general was court-martialed for criticizing military aviation policies. The child's toys symbolize damaged military readiness; "Wilbur and Weeks" (likely referring to aviation pioneers and Mitchell) face questioning about future warfare—satirizing bureaucratic hearings over genuine preparedness. **"Consistency"**: Mocks suburban hypocrisy—the improvement committee chairman who wanted to escape to pristine nature now paves streets, cuts trees, and builds theaters, contradicting his original motivation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE + Syrwee SS AN IMPRESSION OF PAAVO NURME RY ONE WHO TAS REEN IN A RACE WITH HIM Slightly Misleading “\YZE got a rare piece in to-day, Bil “Restoration job, I suppose? “You said it. The boss says to me, ‘You scrape off all that varnish and enamel and shellac and find out what the original surface is like. Then maybe we can do something with what's left.” Well, sir, I scrubbed her with soap, then I scraped, then I smoothed her down with a little powder.” Finished with paint, I suppose? “Oh, sure, they all want paint, these days. Anything new at your plac “The usual line of antiques. coming in, too.” You might think that this conversation occurred between two cabinetmakers in rival furniture stores. It didn’t. Each of the men worked in a beauty parlor. Henry Willian: Hanemann Why Do Men Take Off Their Hats in the Elevator? A CAREFUL study of this question reveals the following answers arranged in order of their importance Lot of overstuffed stock Their wives are with them. are not with them. Somebody might sce them and tell their wives. have just become engaged. have just been divorced. a darn pretty girl over there in the corner, FABLE—Once there was a Southern gentleman who wasn't a colonel. He was a general. Little Boy Weeks HE little toy planes are covered with dust, But sturdy and stanch they stand; Their Liberty motors are red with rust, And their gadgets are filled with sand. Time was, ere the service was full of squeaks, When the motors were passing fair, And that was the time when our Little Boy Weeks Kissed them and put them there. “Now don't you go till I come,” he said, “And don't you make any noise So toddling off to his Bureau bed He dreamt of his pretty toys. And as he was dreaming a raucous song Awakened our Little Boy Weeks. Oh, the tears are many, the probes are long Since Mitchell sprang his leaks! 3ut Wilbur and Weeks together stand, Each in the same old place; And answer the queries hand in hand, A smile on each little face; But we wonder, as cach brave witness speaks To the questioner filling the Chair, W will become of Wilbur and Weeks Ji we have a War in the Air. Sherman Riple Consistency TE chairman of the suburban town improvement con: mittee, whose plans include paving the streets, cut down the trees, extending the trolley line and putting motion picture theatre, is always the man who moved the suburbs because he had to get somewhere “where could smell the good clean earth.” BEAUTY UNADORNED comicbooks.com