Life, 1925-09-17 · page 13 of 36
Life — September 17, 1925 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main illustration depicts "The Gay Nineties," showing a man in formal dark clothing (identified as Jawn J. McGraw) surrounded by baseball players in period uniforms. The caption indicates this references early baseball history when McGraw was a notable figure and games were governed by rules established by the Marquis of Queensberry. The page contains three satirical sections: 1. **Headline Dictionary** – humorous definitions of contemporary terms, including social commentary about women and modern behavior 2. **Whither Are We Drifting?** – verse satirizing price inflation (prices cut, slashed, bleeding, slaughtered, and "absolutely annihilated") 3. **Fame** – a joke about someone named Crawford spending fifty thousand on publicity to get his name on "sucker lists" Overall, the page satirizes early 1900s American culture, economics, and the emerging celebrity industry.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE GAY NINETIES A GROUP OF STERLING ATHLETES IN THE DAYS WHEN JAWN J. MCGRAW HAKULY HAD \ PENNANT TO HIS NAME, BASEBALL, IN THOSE 1 “LANIMS DAYS, WAS PLAYED MOSTLY ACCORDING TO THE RULES LAID DOWN BY THE LATE MARQUIS OF QUEENSRERRY, AND UMPIRES WERE CONSIDERED LEGITIMATE PREY, Headline Dictionary WiIFE—one of the primasy factors in a shooting bout; also on occasion the parent of a TOT—, a minute, spectacular biped of cither sex, noted for its tendency to leap from burning buildings, run under trucks, fall into cisterns, and go motoring with strangers. who usually turn out to be SLAYERS”, the demigods in the American Mythology. The most marked characteristic of the slayer is his deep and undying affection for his MOTHER-, one of the greatest factors in the modern shawl and spectacle industry. Creighton Peet. “T NOTE,” said the elderly gentleman, on his semi-annual visit to the city, “that the women are wearing two sets of garters, one of which evidently holds up their stockings while the other pair holds up traffic.” Whither Are We Drifting ? T first it was..... Prices Loweren After that ity Prices Cut Now it is Prices Stasuen! Prices Cut ann Bieepinc Look presently for..d Prices BuTcuerep Pricts SLAUGHTERED And then, O Millennial Desideratum. . Prices Assovutety ANNutiLaTeD! Cc. B. EL Fame RAWFORD: What's Newrich kicking about? Crassnaw: The poor man says he spent fifty thousand on publicity and the only return was to get his name on the sucker lists. comicbooks.com