Life, 1925-07-16 · page 24 of 40
Life — July 16, 1925 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1920s **Life** humor page contains satirical commentary on American life and social pretension: **"Once to Every Man"** (by Allan S. Becker) mocks the universal human experience of telling a joke that only you find funny—a story so obscure or poorly executed that it alienates audiences (stenographers, salesmen, postmen) and damages relationships. The satire targets self-delusion: we blame others' lack of humor rather than admitting the story simply isn't funny. **"It's You!"** (by Burton Crane) is a golf poem satirizing golfers who credit their clubs for good shots but blame themselves for bad ones—exposing the hypocrisy of selective accountability. **Additional items** include jabs at motion pictures (directors using fake sets while pretending they used real scenery), a tramp who regrets wasting school time instead of selling papers (social climbing satire), and a dig at **W. J. Bryan** via an "educated gorilla" claiming humans as friends—likely referencing Bryan's anti-evolution stance during the Scopes Trial era. The golf cartoon illustration depicts a frustrated golfer and scattered equipment, visualizing incompetence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE - Mike (in the water trap): WEY, OSWALD, ’AND ME ME NIBLICK. Once to Every Man 'HERE is at least one tragedy tucked away in every man's life. It’s not a little tr: it’s a big tragedy. It’s the tragedy of the Funny Story that None but Ourselves Can Understand. When we tell it at home, we are greeted with a chorus of “What's so funny about that one At the office, its persistent presentation causes even our stenographer to look at us askance. Salesmen greet it with a polite smile; chance acquaintances chuckle uncon- vincingly, and make hurried getaways; even the postman gives it a feeble guffaw which indicates a desire to foster good-will rather than an honest zeal. After a while we tend to become embittered, convinced that many people whom we once thought pleasant enough have alw lacked a sense of humor. The Story that Is Over Everybody's Head has caused many a partnership to end, cooled many a friendship, eyen fostered a world of divorces. The one thing that never quite enters our heads is that the Story may. perchance, not really be funny!» Perish the thought! Allan S. Becker. HEN people are quite sure they are going to lose anyway they sub- mit the matter to arbitration. It's You! WHEN you slice with your driver and hook with your spoon, And your chip shots hop and die; When your beautiful pitches end up in the ditches Or land where the grass is high, Remember, Old Timer, it isn’t the club That makes you do what you do. It isn’t equipment that makes you a dub: It's you, Old Man, it’s you! When your drives went a-screaming and rolled to the green And your putts ran true and dropped; When your shots with a brassie were lengthy and classy And your short approaches stopped, I don't recall hearing you telling me how Your clubs made dreams come true. It's never cquipment that makes you a wow: It's you, Old Man, it's you! Burton Crane. The Apex of Achievement HE successful motion picture director is the one who can use natural scenery in such a way that the sophis- ticated movie-gocrs will feel certain that he used a stage setting. Lost Opportunity LAS : Why aren't you a successful business man? Tramp: You see, lady, I wasted me time in school instead of selling newspapers. OHN DANIEL, the educated gorilla, gave out a state- ment in London recently in which he sai You mustn't judge humanity by W. J. Bryan. Why, some of my best friends are humans. Leader of Jazz Orchestra: WHAT A SAXOPHONIST THAT FELLER WOULD MAKE! comicbooks.com