Life, 1925-11-26 · page 26 of 44
Life — November 26, 1925 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the **Florida real estate boom of the 1920s**, a speculative bubble where developers sold overpriced, largely imaginary properties to gullible investors. **The Main Advertisement** mocks Florida development schemes: grandiose architectural pastiches (Taj Mahals, Venetian canals on drained swamps), fake European atmospheres, and con-artist salesmen peddling "easy" investments. The title cartoon—"The Boy Who Couldn't Count Above $100,000,000,000,000,000"—suggests the absurd valuations involved. **"Passing the Buck"** presents a direct con: someone claims Florida property worth 600 times their investment, and the listener replies cynically: "No, but maybe somebody will"—implying endless marks willing to buy inflated claims. The other content (folk songs, fables, radio humor) fills space but remains tangential. The overall message: Florida real estate was pure speculation built on false promises, designed to fleece naive buyers through exaggerated claims and slick salesmanship.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
IN FLORIDA THE BOY WHO COULDN'T CoUNT apove $100,000,000,000,000,000. Advertisement “UNIQUE” is the word,—unique, as mince pie is unique. Here are townsites named for Cali- fornia cities; Here are Venetian canals were swamps, and Venetian (projected) where swamps ar Here are Old English half-timbered buildings (the plaster is almost dry); little skyscrapers, aspiring to look like New York, posture here; and Italian architecture; and Spanish architecture; And Architecture, — Taj Mahals! Harkness Quadrangles! Potato Ware- houses !—on paper. where canals Every one is Jason and everything is Jake! Babel,—all dialects and 1. guages that have a synonym of “eas: real-estate salesmen who sell in any language. Here are practical ideals, one-hun- dred-per-cent. ideals, against a romantic background...Ponce de Leon...Mar- tin Tabert....Hanging from the trees, somnolent Spanish moss and_ lethal lynch ropes; under the trees, brand- new allotment stakes, High-powered Paradise! — Mystic blend of Atlantic City; Dayton, Ten- nessee, and Bridgeport! Florida! eee Shining golden in the sunshine, more golden in the imagination, are the sands upon which these are reared. Kile Crook. Radio Fans MES: JUGGS (looking up from newspaper): Isn't that the aria from “Madame Butterfly” we're get- ting? It’s wonderful. Mr. Juces (also looking up): Beau tiful, dear. Have you the sporting page? Passing the Buck’ : ‘OULD you believe that I have a lot in Florida worth six hundred times what I paid for it?” “No, but maybe somebody will.” December Folk-Song INTER is icumen in, Loud sing kerchoo! Falleth snow, and stalleth car, And slippeth the foot noo, Sadly sing kerchoo. Vanisheth coal from bin, Catch children all the flu, Plumbing freezeth, wife sneezeth, Ever sing kerchoo! Kerchoo, kerchoo, sing we all kerchoo! Wise man goeth Southe noo. Kerchoo, kerchoo, sing bitter kerchoo! Richard L. Greene. A Sap’s Fable OXCE- Upon a time. There were. Three men. Who wanted to be In. The thing. Whatever it was. S All three went. To their. Individ- ual tailors. Each of whom. Had a monopoly. Upon the latest thing. In. And out. One asked for something Ina suit for business wear. One. F a suit. Suitable for. A transatlantic trip. And. One for something. In the way. Of a lounge suit. Each one. Got a suit. Of. Plus-fours. With a camouflage effect. And. As they went down the street. Together. They met a friend. In a disreputable sweater And once. White flannels. Where. Are you going. They asked him. And he replied. I'm going. To play golf. Eugene Case. POSTPONEMENT PAYS Sparks: 1F YOU KNOW WHO STOLE YOUR CAR, WHY DON’T YOU GO GET IT BACK? Larks: 1M WAITING FOR HIM TO PAINT IT, comicbooks.com