Life, 1925-11-26 · page 19 of 44
Life — November 26, 1925 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks criminals who gain notoriety through sensational newspaper coverage. A new prisoner, Walter Selden, enters a jail cell where hardened criminals proudly display their "press titles"—nicknames earned from lurid headlines. Selden admits to stealing $11 million in gold bullion, yet newspapers found the crime too ordinary to sensationalize. The established criminals pity him, explaining he needs a catchy alias to join their exclusive group, "Local 71 of the Master Minds of America." The satire targets both the criminals' vanity and newspapers' complicity in creating celebrity from crime through sensational reporting. The humor lies in criminals valuing press notoriety as social currency—they're less concerned with the crimes themselves than with achieving memorable headlines. The bottom cartoons offer additional comic commentary: one about deteriorating Florida roads, another mocking a man who's exhausted superlatives in praise.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
That Press Glory I" was recreation hour in the prison. The door was thrust open and a newcomer entered the room. He was v dressed and proud of bearing. “Good evening, gentlemen,” he said. “[ am Number 198257.” “Pleased to meetcha,” answered one of the prisoners, stepping forward. “I'm Mike Gitz, better known in the as ‘King of the Boot- agent refers to him as ‘The In- tional Rafiles.’ And Dave Zicklinski, known on the best first pages as the ‘Leading Genius of Counterfeit Band.’ This is Heimie Zweiback, the ‘Ge- nial Love Pirate.’ By the way,” the self-appointed ed, turning to the new prisoner, your monicker ?” 198257's assurance had dropped 1 him during the introductions, and as the gaze of the august assemblage was turned on him, he blushed per- “Walter Selden,” he at last answered hesitantly. “No, no, not your name. Didn't you ceptibly. Tin Can Tourist: How 18 THE ROAD TO LAKE CITY ~ Floridian: 1N PRETTY BAD CONDITION. THERE HASN'T BEEN BUT ONE ACCIDENT FROM SPEEDING THIS WEEK. get any title in the papers?” the host asked, irritably. “What did you do to get in here?” “Oh—why, I walked out of the Sub- treasury building one noon with $11,- 000,000 in gold bullion but the headline writers found it so novel they couldn't think up anything snappy.” “Well, that’s too bad,” consoled the host pityingly. “You'd better go back and do something. You see, you've got to get a name for yourself if you want to get into our Local 71 of the Master Minds of America.” J. AR. A Good Lead KiTy: And did you let him kiss you? Betty: Let him? had to help him} Great heavens, I “r First Booster: WHAT'S HAPPENED TO OLD ED? HE SEEMS TO HAVE LOST HIS GRIP. Second Pest: YEu—11’s A SAD CASE, THE POOR GUY RAN OUT OF SUPERLATIVES. comicbooks.com