Life, 1925-08-06 · page 6 of 36
Life — August 6, 1925 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces typical of early 20th-century American humor: **"Six and a Fraction Reasons"** jokes about a wife's seashore shopping spree versus her husband's mounting bills—poking fun at gender spending differences. **"The Marathon Golfer"** mocks a New Jersey man's excessive golfing (108 holes in one day), satirizing the obsessive leisure habits of affluent Americans. **"Public Revenues"** recounts a bureaucratic absurdity: a customs inspector charges tariffs on souvenirs and opals, creating circular paperwork. The satire targets government inefficiency and petty over-regulation. **"A Second Look"** is a brief dialogue joke about fashionable new hats. The accompanying illustrations use period pen-and-ink style. Overall, the page satirizes consumerism, leisure culture, spousal finances, and government bureaucracy—concerns relevant to Life's middle-class readership.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
* LIFE * Grandpa: vo You Love GRANDPA, ELSIE? Elsie: YES, GRANDPA. Grandpa; WHERE DO YOU LOVE HIM BEST? Elsie: 1N THE TOY SHO?. Public Revenues (A Gripping True Story of Everyday Life) AVING been told that souvenirs to the value of one dollar might be brought across the line duty-free, T bought a dollar’s worth of opals on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande. The fatherly customs inspector on the American side, how- ever, explained to me that I wasn't supposed to have a dollar’s worth of one kind of souvenirs, and regre:ted hav- ing to take me off the strect car and to his office, where he computed the duty on my opals at ten cents. He filled out a blank of near-legal-cap size, had me sign it, signed it himself, and presented it to me. He then gave me a dime to reimburse me for the ad- ditional carfare I should have to pay, filling out a receipt blank for the amount, which I signed and he witnessed. Then I came on through into my native land with my dollar’s worth of opals. Tom Hughes. A Second Look ANE: Have you seen those wonderful new hats? Mary: Yes, I just bought one of them. Jane: Oh, ridiculous-looking things, aren't they? Six and a Fraction Reasons Why My Wife Is Going to the Seashore SHE has just purchased: 1 evening gown (“a dar! ). 1 whatdoyoucallit dress (“just too cute”). 2 unmentionables (“imported, my dear”). 1 scarlet thingamajig (“no, it’s not flashy”). 1 dozen (assorted flavors) full-fashioned hose (“but they have to match”). 1 fractional part of a bathing suit (“it isn’t, cither ; it's a complete bathing costume”). Six and a Fraction Reasons Why I Am Not Going Anywhere I have just received the bills for: 1 evening gown (“ a wow"). 1 whatdoyoucallit dress (“she'll be arrested”). 2 I can’t go on. Has any one a dry handker- Arthur D, Grose, chief? The Marathon Golfer A NEW JERSEY man played one hundred and eight holes of golf in one day. That is not so bad as it sounds, for he probably was so tired afterward that he didn’t describe them to his friends. IE girls can't go much farther with bathing suits— unless they go into the water. THE DOWN-AND-OUT YELLOW-NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER GETS A CITY PARK JOB comicbooks.com