Life, 1925-05-21 · page 25 of 40
Life — May 21, 1925 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains absurdist humor typical of 1920s Life magazine. The "Trouble Man" section mocks readers' technical questions about emerging radio technology by providing deliberately nonsensical answers. For example, a question about radio coil connections receives traffic signal instructions; a radio inquiry gets redirected to fashion publications; and a question about filtering battery hum suggests crushing the device under a truck. The humor relies on the contradiction between serious technical inquiry and ridiculous, unhelpful responses—satirizing both the newfangled radio craze and perhaps the magazine's own advice columns. The illustration depicts "The Gay Nineties," showing a well-dressed woman with an elaborate hat and parasol addressing three older women. The caption refers to her as a "face-powder pioneer," humorously suggesting that using cosmetics was once scandalously bold behavior—when exposed skin was considered improper for respectable women.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE - 23 Tell It to the Trouble Man M. THREEDLE—Should the R. stator and rotor coils of a vari- ometer be connected in series or in parallel? Answer—East and west traffic only for thirty seconds at the flash of the green signal; north and south traffic only for one hundred and twenty sec- © at the drop of the green hat. Does not stop at Prout’s Neck on Decoration Day. eee Harassed—1_ am having no end of with my wife's hook-up. What mu suggest ? einswer—Your wiie probably has one of the old-fashioned kind that hooks up the back. Why not scrap it, or trade it in for a newer model? For troub would further information sce fashion page. our see Old Bachelor—I am looking for a little radio with long, golden coils. Can you be of any assistance? P.S.—I am not a distance hound. Answer—This is out of our depart- ment entirely. Better try the Mac- fadden publications, see Scientific—How do you filter out the hum in a B battery eliminator? Answer—Push it truck, under a_five-ton eee nack—What is a cohera and what is its relation to radio? Answer—A cohera is something like THE GAY NINETIES a zebra with the stripes on the bias. It does not make a very good pet for a small apartment as it lives chiefly upon ground glass, which gets into the rugs something terrible. It is distantly re- lated to radio on the maternal or southeast side through Roxy and the Duke of Dorset. see Puzzled—Whiat station is it that con- stantly goes “Wheeng-wheeng—tock- tock-tock—geegle-geegle,” particularly around three o'clock in the morning? Answer—Flatbush Avenue. eee Arpad H, Miinstergiinster—1 have a friend who has a five-tube radio set he built himself, The other evening he (Continued on page 29) A HEROINE. WHOSE VALOR WENT UNSUNG—THE, FACE-POWDER PIONEER—IN THE DAVS WHEN A Si1INY NOSE MEANT A RESPECTABLE WOMAN, comicbooks.com