Life, 1925-10-22 · page 51 of 74
Life — October 22, 1925 — page 51: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes different types of restaurant waiters through exaggerated character types. The author catalogs annoying waiter behaviors: the overly-attentive "paternal waiter" who won't let diners manage their own coffee; the "disappearing waiter" who vanishes when needed; the "disapproving waiter" who guilts customers into larger tips through visible displeasure; the "head waiter" who wastes time seating guests in empty rooms. The top cartoon depicts rural/working-class men discussing a sick horse with the same indifference they'd show a sick wife—crude humor about male priorities and class attitudes. The "Conjugation" section uses a grammar joke: "I am firm-willed / You are stubborn / He is a pig-headed fool"—illustrating how people rationalize identical behavior differently depending on perspective. The satire targets both waiter pretension and diner anxieties about social performance in restaurants, a growing concern in early 20th-century American leisure culture.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
who n hy and bat- ying “HEAR YOUR WIFE'S BEEN SICK, HANK, BUT WHAT'S WORRYIN’ ME IS THAT ON |, ‘BOUT THE SAME. HE paternal waiter, who is firmly convinced I am physically incapable of dropping my one lump of sugar into my demi-tasse; who is almost. tear- fully insistent on knowing whether the sauce polonaise is exactly right, and who fills my glass at every opportunity. The advisory waiter, who interrupts my perusal of the menu with the in- formation that the artichoke is very y, that the filet of sole is ally nice to-day, and that the ter is exceptionally nice to-da: The disappearing waiter, who is in- variably in the mysterious recesses of the kitchen whenever wanted; who stands dreamily contemplating philos- ophy just out of shouting distance from my table, and who is persistently absent without leave when the time arrives for the chee! The unobtrusive waiter, who hovers behind my elbow in the exact position which makes it impossible to glimpse the number on his badge; who looks Precisely like every other waiter in the place, and who is such a nonentity that T can never decide whether he is as- signed to my table or is merely part of the general scenery. TOOK DOWN WITH THE SAME COMPLAINT.” Waiters | Do Not Like The disapproving waiter, who sighs regretfully when I mention cherry- stones without cocktail sauce, and whose air of discontent is such that I am bullied into doubling his tip in the hope of eliciting one fleeting smile. The head waiter, who parades me for miles around an empty dining-room before he discovers a table which suits his fancy; who returns half a dozen HOW'S SHE GETTING ALON E OF THE HOSSES HAS BEEN times to learn how everything is, and whose itching palm is conspicuously present when I rise to leave. And practically all other waiters. Tip Bliss. Conjugation | AM firm-willed. You are stubborn. He is a pig-headed fool. INSPIRATION “REMEMBER, JACK, WHEN YOU GrT THE BALL THINK OF MF.” JACK DID. comicbooks.com