Life, 1925-07-23 · page 26 of 36
Life — July 23, 1925 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a three-panel comic strip featuring "Skippy," a character strip popular in early 20th-century American comics. The humor depicts two young boys discussing a planned gas house in their neighborhood. In the first panel, Skippy excitedly shares "good news" about construction. His friend asks if he means the gas house being built. In the second panel, the friend expresses skepticism about any benefit to them. The punchline (third panel) reveals Skippy's reasoning: having a "Gas House" in their neighborhood will give them a tough, cool-sounding name—they can call themselves "Gas House" kids or gang members. The satire gently mocks childish logic and the era's working-class neighborhood identity, where industrial facilities like gas houses were common fixtures. Boys would adopt neighborhood landmarks as identity markers. This reflects early 20th-century urban childhood culture.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Skippy: WELL, 1 SUPPOSE YA HEARD THE GOOD NEWS? Skippy: ven. “YA MEAN THE GAS HOUSE THEY'RE GOIN’ TO BUILD?” “L DON'T SER WHAT GoOD THAT'S GOIN’ TO PO Us, THOUGH.” Skippy: Ya von’T! LOOK AT THE TOUGH NAME WE'LL GET. Skippy comicbooks.com