Life, 1925-05-07 · page 19 of 44
Life — May 7, 1925 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several brief satirical pieces typical of Life's humor: **"Electrically Speaking"** jokes about President Coolidge's electric exercise horse, with a Senator making an "ohm stretch" pun—wordplay on electrical resistance units. The joke implies Coolidge was known as humorless, so the pun itself becomes the satire. **"Orientation"** satirizes Prohibition's disorienting effects: hotel guests formerly asked the hotel's name while drunk; now they don't even know what city they're in—suggesting Prohibition-era visitors are equally intoxicated despite the ban. **The main cartoon, "The Gay Nineties,"** shows women protesting a billboard advertising American girls on stage. The caption explains they're "outraged" by this theatrical promotion and worried about a nearby man's moral corruption. It's satirizing 1890s prudishness about female performers and public morality—presented as quaintly overwrought to Life's 1920s readers. Each piece mocks specific social attitudes: Coolidge's reputation, Prohibition's failure, and Victorian-era moral panic.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Little Stories of Big Men Electrically Speaking ATE. Senators were watching the President exercising on his electric horse. “That horse, Cal, id one of the Senators, who had come out of the West, “wouldn't be worth a cent on a race course. Well,” replied the President, dryly, “it might be good the ohm stretch.” And yet they say Coolidge hasn't a sense of humor, Orientation EFORE Prohibition,” said the girl at the switchboard in the big hotel, “I would sometimes get a ring from a room upstairs and a husky voice would ask, ‘Say, what's the name of this hotel?” Now, L sometimes get a ring and the same kind of a husky voice asks, ‘Say, what's the name oi this city 7°" T 1E Skeptics’ Society recently visited the man who mar- ricd the 1911 Beauty Prize Winner. They hope to dis- prove the old theory that “a thing of beauty is a joy fer- ever” COURTIN’ SIS FOR TWO YRARS AN’ MORE, ENGAGEMENT “THE BIG PIKER! AND LOOKIT ALL HR GIVES HER POR AN PRESENT! Not a Fugitive THE son of a United States engineer applied for a job in a United States bank in South America. ave you had any previous hanking experience?” he was asked. THE GAY NINETIES OUTRAGED WOMANHOOD HOLDING AN IMPROMPTU INDIGNATION MFETING IN FRONT OF A BILLBOARD ADVERTISING THE FIRST ATTEMPT TO GLORIFY THE AMERICAN GIRL ON THE STAGE. ALSO SHOWING A HAPLESS MALE OF THE PERIOD ABOUT TO CO TO THR DEMNITION ROW-WOWS UNLESS SOMFTHING IS PONE QUICKLY To 5) comicbooks.com