Life, 1925-07-23 · page 8 of 36
Life — July 23, 1925 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical page combines brief social commentary with a cartoon about Prohibition-era bootlegging. The central illustration shows a monkey in a hat and coat at a window, captioned "Monkey: Am I my keeper's brother?" — likely satirizing how Prohibition drove ordinary people to criminality. The surrounding text snippets mock various 1920s topics: women in business, Detroit's bootlegging operations, British drinking habits during Prohibition, and the Volstead Act's enforcement (noting a New Yorker sentenced 26 times for drunkenness). The right column's "Girls Will Be Boys" section satirizes flappers adopting masculine behaviors—smoking, drinking, swearing, and getting bobbed haircuts—treating these as markers of gender confusion rather than feminist progress. The page reflects Jazz Age anxieties about social upheaval.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“WE need a slogan, ‘Vote as you drink,” declared United States Attorney Buckner, of New York, re- cently, But it's against the law to vote that often. LL There is a rumor current that a group of Detroit business men are organizing against the heavy daily travel to the beers of Windsor. They have already been forced to cut the price of local lager five cents a stein, and to issue but- tons bearing the legend: “Patriotism Begins at Home.” JL A scientist has perfected a machine that cures insomnia. This should put thou- sands of sheep out of work. aL “There is no excuse for the woman in business,” says Gov. “Ma” Fercuson less she takes her womanly ways with her.” Neverthe- less, we do think she might try to remember to bring her own matches. JL Friends of Owen Younc object to the continual reference to the Dawes Plan. What would they suggest as an alternative— the Youn Idea? aL Mr. Younc’s well-wishers should remember that even if Cuartes G. Dawes did get credit for the repara- tions plan, he also got the Vice-Presidency. LL Swedish radio fans, we read, are busily studying English in the hope of un- derstanding American radio programs. Some people can't let well enough alone. L A man disguised as a plumber robbed a New York apartment. He probably thought that such a disguise would make his act legal. In September the Philippines will have enjoyed a quarter-century of “inde- pendence,” and no doubt their Chamber of Commerce will have a big celebra- tion, with speeches by Wittram: How- axp Tart and Leonarp Woon. LL If the Filipinos complain that their “in- dependence” is a mockery, they might cross the Pacific some time and take a look at ours. JL A Hollywood studio menagerie has ac- quired two snakes which spit venom fifteen feet. This is probably due to the fact that they are rival stars. aL During the recent dry spell in England, Londoners drank more champagne than Monkey: AM 1 MY KEEPER'S BROTHER? ever. They copy us in everything over there. L It now scems that Gen. SmMentey But- ter’s Prohibition hounds in Philadelphia have been accepting bribes from boot- leggers, helping them load their trucks and convoying them in safety about the city. Thus, when a Philadelphia bootlegger is asked to deliver a few cases of Scotch, he may say: “I'll do it—with the help of God and a few Marines.” LL When Gen. Butter took charge of Philadelphia, he announced that he would dry the town up in seven days. We fear, however, that he neglected to tell this to the Marines. aL A New Yorker has been | sentenced twenty-six times for drunkenness since the passage of the Volstead Act. This is the sort of thing that makes us believe the country should have Prohibition Girls Will Be Boys TH flapper’s latest flap to folly is to cap the climax with a boyish hair- cut. Now they not only drink like men, smoke like men, swear like men; they even look like men. And they do it just to be different! Such is their idea of us ing their heads. By and by, there won't be a hairbreadth difference between girls’ heads and boys’ except on the inside. Many opponents of the bobbed-hair fashion con- sider the boy-cut the most unkindest cut of all. Sie transit (or what price?) woman's crowning glory! Edmund J. Kiefer. WH comicbooks.com