Life, 1925-09-24 · page 28 of 41
Life — September 24, 1925 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks the pretensions of mid-level corporate executives. E.J. Titus, treasurer of the "Sweet Sultan Tractor Company," orchestrates an elaborate restaurant bill-splitting ritual with subordinates Puffton Parker (Assistant Treasurer) and Myron (Sales Manager). The satire targets how these men perform false camaraderie through forced laughter ("Heh, heh, heh" and "Ho, ho, ho") while obsessively calculating a simple bill—revealing their actual concern is nickel-and-diming rather than genuine fellowship. Titus pedantically recalculates each person's share multiple times, then proposes splitting three ways to save effort, undermining his pretense of careful attention to detail. The humor lies in exposing the gap between how corporate managers see themselves (serious, detail-oriented professionals) and their actual pettiness. The concluding moral about watching "little de-tails" appears self-aware yet completely sincere—the characters remain oblivious to their own absurdity. The illustration above shows a man jumping over a crowd, titled "O'Sullivan Tries Out a New Pair of Balloon Rubber Heels"—a separate, unrelated visual gag about novelty footwear.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
MR. O'SULLIVAN TRIES OUT A NEW PAIR OF BALLOON RUBBER HEELS Little Personalities in Big Business “WAITER.” calls E. J. Titus, Treasurer of the Sweet Sultan Tractor Company (since 1492, Mer- chandisers of the Tractor with Some Pull), “bring on the bad news.” “Heh, heh, heh.” Three hearty bleats from Puffton P. Parker, Assistant Treasurer, indicate that he has not missed his cue. “Bad news. You're a card, E. J. Heh, heh, heh.” The bill is presented. E, J. gets out his pencil and painstakingly adds up the figures, “Puffton,” he says, tossing over the card, “just check up on that for me.” Puffton checks. *O. K., Chie Mr. Titus clears his throat. Now, lessee,” he begins. “Puffton, you had melon, cutlet, iced coffee and pastry. And cover charge makes $2.80. The Treasurer Does His Stuff Right? Myron,” addressing the Sales Manager, who has been giving an exhi- bition of Cigar Rolling, “yours was steak and potatoes, coffce, ice cream anid cigar...eighteen, carry the one, makes two, lessee, that right?—yes...and cover charge makes $2.90. That right, huh? And mine, lessee, cantaloupe, croquettes, coffee, cherry pic a la mode. .+-Losing my appetite, hul “Ho, ho, ho.” from the Sales Man- ager. “Heh, heh, heh,” from the Assistant now,” continues “the genius of the Sweet Sultan folks,” “had cover charge, cigar, melon, no cantaloupe... -that waiter never is here when you want him, but when the bad news comes around, you het he’s right on the job.” jussa inute, waiter... “WHAT'S BECOME OF YOUR BROTHER BILL, ED?” “Heh, heh, heh,” from the Assistant Treasurer. “Ho, ho, ho,” from the Sales Man- ager. “Myron,” continues the man of fig- ures, “yours was $2.10...jussa minute, that was Puffton...yours was $2.80, right? Mine was, lessee, cherry pie 4 la mode, coffee, cigar, ¢ oupe.. lessee, seven and five...thirteen, carry one... lessee, $2.10 plus $2.80, $4.90, Plus cantaloupe, cherry pic, cover charge 4 la mode...something off. What say, we split three ways? Take less time. About three dollars apiece, right? “Right,” says the Sales Manager. “O. K. with me, C says the As- istant Trea cr shufiles off to get change. urer collect: folds the bills careful They smoke in silence. “Myron,” says Mr. Titus, as the waiter brings the change and receives a fifty-cent tip, “what you was saying a while back hits me right between the eyes. I mean about looking out for the little de-tails. I always tell the people in my organization; ‘Look out for the little de-tails, and the little de-tails will look out for themselves.’ Yes, sir, it don’t pay not to be careful about the little de-tails.” “T check with that, Chi Assistant Treasurer. “Right,” says the S x dollars and his wallet. says the ales Manager. Sterling Patterson. UGGESTED refrain for a song to the Traffic Cop Your sign tells me Go-Go but there's Stop-Stop in “HAVEN'T SEEN HIM FOR TEN YEARS. HE LIVES ACROSS THE STREET.” your eyes.” comicbooks.com