Life, 1925-05-14 · page 17 of 40
Life — May 14, 1925 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several humor pieces rather than political cartoons. The top illustration shows "A Retired Rum Runner Builds Himself a Home"—a reference to Prohibition-era bootleggers repurposing their smuggling vessels into residences, satirizing how criminals adapted after losing their illegal trade. The main cartoon titled "Bobbing" depicts "Papa Neptune Makes Flippers Into Flappers," showing the Roman god of the sea transforming fish flippers into human legs. This likely mocks the 1920s "flapper" trend—young women adopting short skirts, bobbed hair, and modern behavior—by presenting the fashion as an absurd transformation, as if women were becoming something unnatural or foreign. The smaller text pieces are joke exchanges between couples on mundane domestic topics.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Wink 'O the waiter last night I was forced to complain, “Why didn’t you bring me a drink? Your service—or lack of it—gives me a pain; You knew when I tipped you the wink!” His answer was pointed, but very urbane: “I'm sorry if that’s what you think, sir; I was hoping you might, sir (but hoping in vain), Be inclined to tip more than the wink, sir!” Sherman Ripley. The Kill-Joy IFE: Have a good time on your fishing trip? Hussanp: No; some damn fool brought along a pair of scales. A Sequel to Modern Salesmanship — JSINESS was at a standstill. Shops, stores, theatres, MEX are taking more and more to the use of perfumes, amusement resorts of every kind were deserted. Men reports a cosmetics asso ion. Shall we join the and women wandered silently about the streets or stood in ladies? groups and conversed with voices lowered to a tragic whisper. There was an air of impending catastrophe over all the land. Scientists of every nation had con- curred that on the following day, be- tween three and four o'clock in the afternoon, our little world would cease to exist. The mystery of the universe, if any, was to be finally, definitively, irrevocably solved. Another world, torn loose from its age-old orbit, was hurtling through space. To-morrow afternoon the inevitable collision would rr and our little globe would shat- ter into fragments of fiery dust. There was helpless wailing in homes of ignorance. The more intelligent were thoughtful, waiting. Churches, synagogues, temporary places of wor- ship were packed to overflowing. Out- one of the greatest New York thedrals was a restless but recon- ciled sea of mankind. Caste, creed and social position had paled to nothing. Business, finance, individual interests— all were forgotten. All save one. In the midst of the close-packed throng a sleek, dapper youth turned to his prosperously dressed neighbor, and above the reverent hush of humanity was heard a voice: “Now here’s a special policy we've just gotten out, that will insure you against illness, accident or unemployment. And the premium...” After all, the end of the world was still a whole day off. R.S.W. A RETIRED RUM RUNNER BUILDS HIMSELF A HOME HUSBAND (exhibiting catch): This bass here fought. me for ten minutes! BOBBING Wire: What had you done to it? PAPA NEPTUNE MAKES FLIPPERS INTO FLAPPERS. comicbooks.com