Life, 1925-07-23 · page 12 of 36
Life — July 23, 1925 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains satirical commentary on gender relations and consumerism, circa early 20th century. **"Cherchez la Femme"** section quotes Oliver Goldsmith and Baird Leonard, ironically listing what women supposedly need: European trips, motor cars, jewelry, and servants. The satire critiques both male assumptions about female desires and women's actual material demands. **"How It Started"** humorously describes early automobile tourism—pioneers crossing the West in motorized wagons. The "$50 to $45" haggling joke parodies both frontier bargaining and the emerging car industry's pricing. **"The Party Line"** gossips about Maybelle Ellis's appearance and various acquaintances' romantic/financial misadventures, exemplifying the contemporary fascination with society scandal. The cartoons and quips collectively mock modern consumer culture, gender dynamics, and social pretensions of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Man (to small boy S. B. (recognizing father’s bootlegger) OUT SWIPING A CAR TO FIT A TIRE HE SWIPED YESTERDAY, The Party Line “MIAYBELLE ELLIS ain't talkin’ to me no more. She asked me how she looked in her new dress an’ T told her I thought kilts wuz real be- comin’ to her style of beauty. “There'd ought to be a lot of money in farmin’ when you think how much everybody you know has put into it. “‘Wal,’ I says to th’ preacher, ‘this’d be a great world to live in if everybody wuz jest a mite better, or a mite worse.” “Joe Tuke's boy joined th’ Navy to get away from runnin’ his pop’s tractor an’ they got him drivin’ a five-ton truck down to th’ Philadelphia Navy Yard. “Enough gals has got their hair bobbed now fer some of them to start lettin’ theirs grow again jest to be dif- ferent. “Sarah Lee Ames says she thinks she'd like to get married jest so’s she could get a divorce. “Sometimes there’s so many people onto this line, I dunno if I'm holdin’ a conversation, or broadcastin’.” James Kevin McGuinness. Market Tip HE best way to make a hundred dollars in the stock market. is to start in with five hundred, and quit when you've only lost four, Cherchez la Femme “Man wants but little here below.” —Oliver Goldsmith F man wants little here below, Woman can do with even less, As I conclu ly can show By listing what she would possess; A steady, solvent cavalier, A cellar stocked with Pol Roger, A trip to Europe twice a year, And first-night seats for every play, A costly motor car or two, A boudoir done in blue brocade, Raiment from Lanvin and Reboux, Some stcel Preferred, a perfect maid Bejeweled bracelets—also rings, A rope of Oriental pearls— I'd manage with those little things, And so would many other girls. 1f men's demands on carth are small, Women's are more atomic yet... I wonder why most women fall For men inclined to go and get. Baird Leonard How It Started HEN Lewis, or Clark, or Fre- mont, or whoever it was, was pioneering through the then uncharted West in a fleet of motorized covered wagons, he came upon a mountain fill- ing station, the proprictor of which had no scruples against gouging tourists. “Gas will cost you fifty-five dollars.” announced the man with a smirk. ifty-four-forty or fight,” sternly replied Lewis, or Clark, or Fremont, o: whoever it was. .P. S—He got the gas. “THIS suits me down to the ground,” said the parachute-jumper as he stepped off. Gus MaeeR THE GREATEST GO-GETTER OF ALL! comicbooks.com