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Life, 1925-12-03 · page 80 of 84

Life — December 3, 1925 — page 80: what you’re looking at

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Life — December 3, 1925 — page 80: Life, 1925-12-03

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising and light fiction**, not political satire. The content includes: **"The Fifty-first Wife"** — a humorous orientalist short story playing on Western stereotypes of harems. The joke is that the youngest wife, thinking herself clever, gives the Sultan a necktie instead of practical slippers like the other fifty wives. The Sultan, offended by what he considers a "horse blanket," has her thrown into the Bosphorus—a darkly comic punchline that treats violent punishment as casual humor. The story mocks both orientalism and feminine presumption. **Advertisements** dominate: Mothersill's seasickness remedy, Clark's cruise packages, Forhan's toothpaste (for pyorrhea), and Waltham watches. These reflect 1920s consumer culture. The satirical element is minimal—mainly the casual orientalism and the story's dark humor about a woman punished for her audacity. No specific political figures or events are referenced; it's period entertainment reflecting contemporary attitudes toward non-Western cultures.

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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

SEASICK emMeO ‘The positive relief for SEA, TRAIN AND CAR Sickness, Stops the nausea at once. years in use, 736) & $1.30 at Drug Stores Fy or direct on receipt of price | The Mothersill Remedy Co., New York Clark’s Famous Cruises by Cunard Line, new oll-burners Jan, 20, N.Y. Around the World Cruise (Los Angeles, Feb. 5) 128 days, $1250 to $3,000. Jan. 30, Mediterranean Cruise 62 days, $600 to $1700. June 30, 1926, Norway and Western Mediterranean; 53 days, Rates include hotels, drives, guides, fees. Longest experienced cruise management. Established $0 years F.C. CLARK, Times Bidg., New York | Thedread Pyorrhea | begins with bleeding gums UST as the strength of a building is depend ent upon its founda- tions, so are healthy teethdependent up- on healthy gums. is called Pyorrhea. ing of teeth is @ direct result And spongy recednggums ievite painful tooth- base decay. They act, t00, as $0 many waysfordiseasegerms to enter the system— infecting the joints or tonsils—or causing other ailments. Byorrbes attacks a ene eure! Use — 8. teh sistently. It also ally cleans the teeth—keeps them whiteand + LIFE - With a Full Hearth FIRELIGHT! Firelight! Fill the empty room, Glimmer on the white walls, Glance into the gloom. What a woodland reverie Is in a swirl of smoke, Firelight! Firelight! (1 swallow it and choke.) Firelight! Firelight! Dance into my dream Of coal that comes to-morrow morn To sing the song of steam. C. B. WW. G. The Fifty-first Wife A Christmas Tale of the East T was Christmas in the harem. Lord knows why—except that somehow this seems a particularly pleasant way of beginning a piece. To her in con- ference the First Wife called her col- leagues and spake, “Girls,” she said, “the time has come for us to slip Loving Daddy a seasonal remembrance, What shall it be?” “Slip him slippers,” suggested the Second Wife, who had a single-track mind and was greatly beloved therefor. “Slippers!” chorused the rest in lush and opulent voices. “Allah Kerim!” Whereupon, the matter settled, fifty wives resought their diwans in that Oriental belief that effort is the least desirable of all things. Not so the Fifty-first Wife, who was also the youngest. “I,” she thought with the egoism of personable youth, “shall not, like the others, give our Loving Daddy slippers. J shall give him a necktie—then he will remember me!” She was an artful minx, Thus did it come to pass that there were arrayed before the august eyes of the Sultan fifty pairs of slippers and one necktie. The hundred slippers the Sultan accepted philosophically, readily finding an apposite verse of the Koran with which to express his resignation. Being all by itself, as the Fifty-first Wife had carefully planned, the neck- tie attracted his attention. “By the sacred beard of the Prophet!” he exclaimed. “If this were not unmistakably a necktie I should say it was a horse blanket! This is the most horrific insult ever tendered to a cultured and discriminating gentle- man!” Which indeed it was. So the Fifty-first Wife was summoned. “Did you give me this terrible neck- tie?” the Sultan asked the Fifty-first Wife. “Aye, my Lord,” she replied, with a smile that was more a smirk than a smile, “Well, Baby,” said the Sultan, “I can make allowances for your youth, but there is an old proverb which says a melon, spoiled early, does not grow bet- ter with age.” And straightway he had her tied neatly into a sack and thrown into the Bosphorus—a custom to which the Western missionaries are attempt- ing to put a stop. However, it pleased the fifty remain- ing wives very much, and even more the Quartermaster-Eunuch, who had al- ways been annoyed to have to make out requisitions for fifty-one this, and fifty-one that, as it was not prac- tical. And the moral, if there must be one, is that you always pay for being con- spicuous and Michael Arlen needn't necessarily lap up all the loose gravy in the universe, Henry William Hanemann. 77 SRE RET TITANS] 7S XMAS GIFT For Mother, Wi e Sister, Sweethe ‘Gold Medal” WALTHAM Wrist Watch NTERNATIONALLY | famous for “Gold Medal” award wuty and Accuracy valeting. WALTHAM ‘tribute to. is sare Critics to ita love: of exquisitencsa, rare entgnitn nett ARVELOUS accuracy.” We have ac idreds to stage and screen 3 eee woen hee sre DELIGHTED with ii ete ARTISTRY—WHITE LI ATC! lorolog' Pave! isto Umekeer Unewe SUINE Ruby Jewels EN teal Improvementa! Deliv- ‘and advanced ered In beautiful Ie bon Veegutar Bie, BE ur price tor Cart chrome li 15 sew Sie At Days, “ake 51.55 Discount and send check or money order for.. ORDER for Xmas NOW! Avoid delays in mails ‘Send NO Money-enly the Coupon TODAY! Laroest Retauereef Woltham "Gold Medal” Watches 365 Washington Strest., Boston, Mass. 00 om address Dept.'1$1 | ee, Note i yee att eds attne tet —————${TJe—<$ comicbooks.com