Life, 1925-04-02 · page 10 of 44
Life — April 2, 1925 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents humorous commentary on early-20th-century social courtship rituals. "The Travel Hog" mocks tourists who boast about European trips—the author met someone who claimed extensive travel but proved unreliable as a dinner companion. The comic strip sequence (panels 1-6) illustrates a man's unsuccessful romantic quest across locations: starting from a crowd, traveling via Atlantic Ocean, through Paris, Switzerland, Greece, and Egypt. Each panel suggests repeated romantic failure despite geographic variety. The "Ballade of the Quest" poem reinforces this theme—a man laments never drawing "a pretty girl," meaning never winning romantic interest despite varied attempts and encounters. The satire targets masculine vanity: travel experiences and worldly sophistication fail to guarantee romantic success. The joke emphasizes that charm and genuine connection matter more than cosmopolitan credentials.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE START The Travel Hog HAT is it that makes people think that, just because they've been to Europe, seen the sun set behind the Pyrenees, ridden in a Venetian gondola or eaten an omelette in Paris, they're entitled to come back home and bore the populace with a long recital of their unique adventures? They make me sick. Recently I met one of these abroadcasters who had just returned from a Mediterranean cruise. Great Ra! but she was a fluent informer. She started in with her little travelogue from the minute she had had her pass- port pictures taken, clean through the first shuffleboard tournament, on to the landing at Havre, across to Biskra, ‘way over to Cairo, and down the Nile with full descriptions of every stop-over be- tween Aleppo and Forty-second Street. She kept up her rattle for such a whale of a time that I never did get a chance to let her know I'd just arrived from Panama and had a lot of genuinely in- teresting things to tell her. Perey Waxman. Memories HE shaving brush I left at Grand Rapids. The pajamas I leit at Toledo. The overcoat I left at St. Louis. The cuff-links I left at Denver. The scarf pin I left at Minneapolis. The safety razor I left at Baltimore. The muffler I left at Detroit The pair of shoes I left at Phila- delphia. The suit-case I left at New Haven. The girl I left at Atlantic City. C. G..S. B in Season PATRON (in restaurant) : Have you got any oysters? Warter: Have you got a prescription? Ballade of the Quest Eternal HEN I am sitting in a train And glimpse the girls, prim and petite, I sometimes spy a knockout jane And hope: “Oh, will she share my seat?” Alas—just when our glances meet (Oh, I am a most luckless churl!), Some fat frau snaps it up toot- sweet— I never draw a pretty girl! While walking down a country lane— Mayhap it is a city street— My friend and I observe a twain Of cuties whom we boldly greet. As usual, the fates repeat: He picks the peach with golden curl; Leaves me the prune—can that be beat ? I never draw a pretty girl! At dances it’s the same refrain: My partner's old, or obsolete. At dinners, too, my partner's plain, To make my misery complete, At parlor games, my luck’s a cheat, For when the bottle ends its twirl, It points to some dumbdora’s feet— I never draw a pretty girl! L'Exvor Prince, I am a profound zxsthete... 1 know I'm not a Conway Tearle, But what's the reason—I entreat— I never draw a pretty girl? Max Lief. Inspiration TENOGRAPHER: What's the mat- ter with the boss this morning 2. Orrick Manacrr: Oh, he has a new motto on his desk comicbooks.com