Life, 1925-12-31 · page 28 of 37
Life — December 31, 1925 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces reflecting 1920s social commentary: **"Draw Poker"** is a wordplay joke where inanimate objects (hat, locksmith, baggage man, yeast, trainman, shoe, string, rouge, room clerk, baking powder, magnate) participate in a poker game, each making bids using puns on their nature ("I'll open it for five dollars" from a locksmith, "Full house" from the room clerk). **"Couldn't Pass That Up"** satirizes social hypocrisy: a man invites a friend to spend the evening, but when asked to reciprocate the visit with his wife, suddenly claims they don't have a radio—revealing his wife's company is unwelcome. The implied insult is softened by the friend's response. **"My Quaint Quartette"** presents four male character types: Maurice (obsessively organized), Thomas (passionate but pretentiously bohemian despite being from Times Square), Donald (slow-witted), and Theo (aspiring theatrical). These are gentle personality sketches poking fun at recognizable social types of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“How's YOUR NEW DEPARTMENT MANAGER?” “NOT BAD—IP SHE WAS A MAN, I THIN Draw Poker “T PASS,” 1 Time. “Buy me,” sighed the new hat. “T'll open it for five dollars,” offered the locksmith. “Check,” said the baggage man. “I raise you,” chuckled the cake. i | .” said the trainman. “Two pair?” clerk. “Straight,” said the string. “Flush,” the rouge offered. “Full house,” smiled the room clerk. “Four trays bawled the counter man. “Royal,” boasted the baking powder. “My next deal—" began the mag- nate. yeast This from the shoe here!" George P. O'Keefe. Couldn’t Pass That Up “TYROP in and spend the evening some time, old man. We've got a wonderful radio. “That's fine. at our house.” “Then what do you say my wife and I come to see you?” We do not have a set 1'D ACTUALLY LIKE HER.” Heirloom F the world retains its reverence for relics of a bygone age, it is not un- reasonable to assume that in a hundred ‘years from now the society reporters will be telling us that “the bride wore the flask her great-grandmother was married in.” NUBBVILLE SPARK SHERIDAN HUCKLE REPORTS THAT THE ONLY REASON BEAUTY SECRETS NEVER HELP HIS WIFR IS BECAUSE SHE'S HOMELY TO START WITH. My Quaint Quartette ETHODICAL MAURICE loves ledgers and books ; With science his brain is obsessed; His clothes are all hung upon classified hooks And are kept hygienically pressed. He tells alphabetical, tabular jokes And statistical songs he will sing; And he lives all the while in a vertical file With his father, the Card Index King. Turbulent Thomas is always aflame With a passion he can’t seem to quench, He frequently talks about “playing the game,” And refers to a girl as a “wench.” The great open spaces he loves to de- scribe ; In the city he “stifles for air.” From the way he is dressed I should never have guessed He was born and brought up near Times Square. Diffident Donald is dreadfully dumhb— He hardly seems able to speak; If you ask something Monday the answer will come Along towards the end of the week. With a quill on the back of a twopenny stamp You could write everything that he knows. He is backward and shy—I've at last found out why— He thinks it's the girls who propose. Thespian Theo is thirsty and thin; His spine has a beautiful curve; His voice has the tones of a cheap vio- lin When he makes what he always calls “lurve.” Shakespearian speeches he loves to de- claim, While his arms move with semaphore jerks; It seems terribly sad that they’re all movie-mad In the drug-store where Theodore works. Geoffrey Kerr. IFE: dinner? Hus (fed up): pany. What would you like for Anything but com- comicbooks.com