Life, 1925-08-20 · page 9 of 36
Life — August 20, 1925 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate satirical pieces. The top cartoon mocks a man refusing to learn swimming by claiming he'd "save some girl's life and marry her"—satirizing male anxiety about unintended romantic consequences. The middle section, titled "The Very Idea," depicts a train conductor waking a sleeping passenger, joking that Senator Hale's demand for "preparedness" reminded men to check their football ticket reservations—mocking peacetime military readiness rhetoric as absurdly overblown. The bottom cartoon shows two sailors discussing their ship's position over a dangerously deep ocean abyss, with one calling it "positively ridiculous"—likely satirizing naval incompetence or reckless maritime practices, though the specific historical context remains unclear without a date. All three pieces employ gentle, humorous social commentary typical of early 20th-century satirical journalism.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE My favorite flower is the goldenrod, my favorite author is James J. Corbett, my favorite dessert is chocolate fudge sundae, and my favorite movie actor is Rin-Tin-Tin.” The magnate smiled and made as courteous a bow of dismissal as he could, considering the fix he was in. I took my pad and pencil, and left. As I closed the door, his alert mind was already busily at work, and I could hear him dictating the following memo to G. W. Hawkins, head of his service department: Attention Mr. Hawkii room needs fixing. New seat needed. kins and children are well. Chair in President Wopkins’ Hope Mrs. Haw- F, W. W.” The Very Idea THE conductor looked at his watch and gave the signal, and the train pulled out of the terminal. At the tenth station the brakeman rushed into the smoker. His face was flushed with excitement. Evidently something unusual had happened. He shook the conductor. “Wake up, John, wake up!" he cricd delightedly. “We got a passenger!” ENATOR HALE’S demand for preparedness was opportune. It reminded a lot of men that they had better be seeing about their reservations for football tickets, \ “WHY DON'T YOU LEARN TO SWIM “TOO DANGEROUS! THE FIRST THING 1'D DO WOULD BE TO SAVE SOME GIRL’S LIFE AND MARRY HER.” Excelsior! HE progress of man is marvelous, In the beginning he invented clothing to protect himself from rain and snow, Through the centuries he perfected this clothing. To-day the fear of spoiling it keeps him from venturing out in the rain and snow, “ARE YOU AWARE THAT WE ARE NUW SAILING OVER AN OCEAN ABYSS MORE THAN TWO— AND—A—HALF—MILES—DEEP ?” “ISN'T IT POSITIVELY RIDICULOUS?” comicbooks.com