Life, 1925-11-26 · page 36 of 44
Life — November 26, 1925 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising**, featuring a 1925 patent medicine ad for Gastrogen Tablets (digestive relief). The surrounding content includes three brief humorous anecdotes under "Our Foolish Contemporaries"—a satirical section mocking absurd stories from other publications. **The jokes:** 1. **"The Ingenious Grocer"**: Mocks an Egyptian grocer's absurdly flowery advertising circular using overwrought metaphors (employees "swift as a mother marrying off a hunch-backed daughter"; mustard "sharp as an impatient creditor's words"). The satire targets exaggerated marketing language. 2. **"Scratch! Scratch!"**: A misunderstanding where a farmer thinks his dog scratches at the door, but it's actually the hired man writing a letter on the kitchen table—a visual/auditory pun. 3. **"Badly Shaken"**: A salesman's claim that a second-hand car will "last a lifetime" backfires when the buyer interprets it as a death sentence. These are light, wordplay-based humor pieces typical of 1920s magazines—no political content. The page reflects era-specific concerns about digestive health and consumer skepticism toward salesmen.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE - A better way to relieve your digestive distress! © MUCH acid in your stom- ach—"hyper-acidity”— is the thing that brings about diges- tive distress. You can relieve that condition with soda bicarbonate or prepara- tionscontainingit. But there’s one objection to alkalines of thisclass. Unless you measure your dose to a nicety, your stomach is left with an alkaline residue. It can- not carry on its normal work. For it must have a slight trace of acidity or the digestive juices cannot function. Gastrogen Tablets work differently Gastrogen Tablets quickly de- sroy hyper-acidity, but they do not leave your stomach with an alkaline content. You could eat any number of them, and the excess would only pass harmlessly out of your sys- tem. Your stomach remains “in neutral,” and nature quickly re- stores the slight balance of acidity so essential to good digestion. Gastrogen Tablets are mild, safe, effective and convenient. They combat digestive disturb- ance without retarding digestion. They are pleasant to taste, they purify the breath and they are prompt in the relief they give. Your druggist has them in handy pocket tins of 15 tablets ies 20¢, also in cabinet-size bottles of 60 tablets for 60c. If you wish to try them before you buy them, the coupon for free introductory packet of 6 tablets. . © Bristol-Myers Co., 1925 utters. | Sample by mail, 25 eta, Baltimore, Md. OUR FOOLISA CONTEMPORARIES a> = The Ingenious Grocer The Orient is a country of meta- Phorical language, of delicate illusion. There is nourished the belief that exag- geration is not misrepresentation. A grocer of Cairo recently sent out a cir- cular to his potential clients which read as follows: “Every day on which you neglect to visit our splendid establishment will leave you with irreparable regrets. “Our employees are as swift as a mother trying to marry a hunch-backed, dowerless daughter. They will afford you the joy which is felt by a husband when his lawyer tells him that his di- vorce has been awarded. “As for our merchandise, it is without equal in the entire world. Our mustard is as sharp as the words of an impatient creditor. Our prunes are as sweet as the discourse of a banker. Our preserves are fresher than fresh fruit. “We dispatch orders which are given us with the speed of a cannon ball, and goods are packed even as the departed in their coffins.” It is to be hoped that this grocer with the poctic imagination will see his efforts rewarded. Surely he is deserving of it. —Le Péle-Méle (Paris). Nothing better for stuggish appetite than Abbott's d: Cc. W. Abbott & Co, Scratch! Scratch! With a gesture of impatience, the old farmer laid aside his paper and went to the door. “Come in,” he said; but silence followed. He closed the door and went back to his paper. Presently he went to the door again, and again he found no one there. “What's the matter?” asked his wife. “That blamed dog,” he grumbled, “has been scratching at the door to git in for the last hour, but he runs away every time I open it.” “That ain't the dog,” she explained; “that’s the hired man writing a letter on the kitchen table.”—Boys’ Life. Badly Shaken First Crusman: Good heavens, old man, you look as though you have been sentenced to death. conp Ditto: I h-have, sreat Scott! Why?” “You r-remember that s-second-hand car I b-bought last week? The s-sales- man t-told me it would I-last a 1-life- time."—Bystander (London). Responsibility “How do you control your busband while you are away?” “T leave the baby with him.” —Pearson’s Weekly (London). “Is justice really so slow?” “The motorist docsn't think so.” —Louisville Courier-Journal. No. 1711 has the smart’ apple bow The Sweetest Pipe In The World Money can’t buy a better looking, sweeter-smoking pipe than the Milano. Its bowl is hand-fashioned from specially-seasoned Italian briar overacentury old; its stem is hand cut from solid vulcanite. 26 smart shapes, in smooth finish, $3.50 up; Rustic models, $4.00 up. All “Znsured” for your protec- tion. Sold everywhere—look for the White Triangle on the stem. Ws. DEMUTH & CO. World's Largest Manufacturers of Fine Pipes 230 FIFTH AVE., NEW YORK MILAN CThe Insured Pipe comicbooks.com