Life, 1925-11-05 · page 32 of 50
Life — November 5, 1925 — page 32: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Life magazine page contains three satirical pieces mocking early 1920s American culture: **"Climax of Civilization"** ridicules movie theater extravagance—ornate lobbies, uniformed staff, elaborate decor—as wasteful excess masking mediocre entertainment ("Scrambled Wives" in six reels). **The cartoon** depicts a crime-wave concern of the era: women bandits. The "suggested knee-mask" jest mocks how female criminals might disguise themselves while preserving their fashionable appearance—satirizing both crime's prevalence and society's superficiality. **"A Sap's Fable"** uses a shipwreck survivor forced to reread magazines repeatedly as allegory for life's meaninglessness, concluding with existential despair—reflecting post-WWI disillusionment among intellectuals. The **dialogue strip** jokes about urban crime: a stranger asks about rural safety; the clerk admits the city has hold-ups but won't boast about it either way—cynical commentary on widespread lawlessness (likely Prohibition-era violence). The overall tone: sophisticated mockery of American materialism, crime, and existential emptiness.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Climax of Civilization E gigantic Negro doorman in a cream-colored uniform. The gleaming ticket booth decorated in Renaissance style. The dazzling blonde who causes tick- cts to shoot out from the brass counter. The gilded and paneled lobby with an inlaid pavement. The princely ticket-taker Graustark. The gaily ushers armed with batons. The seats. The half-hidden, varicolored lights. The high walls frescoed with danc- ing nymphs and satyrs. The jeweled dome and the sparkling chandelier, The orchestra that plays Beethoven and Wagner, “Scrambled Wives” in six reels. W, L, Werner. LARENCE DARROW believes in showing up when a felon needs a friend. out of uniformed and capped flashlights and comfortable wide, cushioned, Stranger: MANY HOLD-UPS “LJOW were things out in the sticks last summer ?” “Well, sort of li dressing-room- little going on. ¢ a chorus girl's vely enough, but very SUGGESTED KNEE-MASK FOR GIRL BANDITS. ‘ YOUR CITY? Clerk: WELL, WE AIN'T BRAGGIN’ EITHER WAY, A Sap’s Fable NCE upon a time. <A man. Got wrecked upon a ship. The other passengers had all left. When the alarm was sounded. He probably had taken a bit too much. Anti-Vol- stead. Well. Anyway he found him- self. Left with plenty of food and water. But no companions. Of any sort. But a number of current maga- zines. Being intelligent. He realized these. Would in time give out. So he restricted himself. To only so much a day. However he was not rescued. As soon as he had expected. And he began to go over them again. Still no ship in sight. Time passed. He forced himself to review the tattered period- icals. Though he knew them from cover to cover. They palled. Lost even the effect of distraction. At last in despair. He seized all of them. Crying. “Heaven have mercy on me. There is nothing left. But to read the stories!” Eugene Case. “IT WONDER if life is really worth living.” “Well, what else can you do with it?” comicbooks.com