Life, 1925-12-31 · page 9 of 37
Life — December 31, 1925 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The illustration depicts young people in 1890s attire riding in a horse-drawn carriage, advertising "The Great Sandow—Strongest Man in the World." The caption reads: "New Year's Day Calls. Young bloods of the nineties going the rounds of the punch-bowls in a livery stable rig hired for the occasion." The satire mocks wealthy young men making fashionable New Year's Day social calls while hiring modest livery stable carriages to appear more impressive than they can afford. "Punch-bowls" references social drinking customs. The juxtaposition of promoting a circus strongman (Sandow) while showing dandyish, fragile-looking youths heightens the humor—these "young bloods" claim strength and vigor but are actually frivolous poseurs relying on hired appearances.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
NEW YEAR'S DAY CALLS. " was Monday. The Greatest Editor the Tabloid Game Ever Knew was in despair. “Look at this!” he stormed to his assistant. “Here we've got the com- plete text of a letter from Scion of Proud Family that’s the vilest thing I ever read. And young Caton brought in a peach on Showgirl Dares Death to Save Honor. And O'’Sullivan’s got a dandy interview with Tiger Bride Who Slew Lover. And all kinds of red-hot stuff on Slugger’s Wife Quits in Row, Probe Bares Death Pact, Hammer Fiend Raids Love Nest, Women Mourn Grave Ghoul, and Missing Mite Was Maniac Sobs Mother. And all our regular depart- THE GAY NINETIES STABLE RIG HIRED FOR THE OCCASION, Twin Tabloid Tales ments—My Favorite Murderess, Most Embarrassing Walk Home, Tiny Tots’ Chant Royal Kontest and scads of others....And now the advertising de- partment wants a half-column because it's the Annual Merchants’ Issue! “How the devil do they expect me to get all this Big News into the paper?” mourned the Great Editor. eee It was Tuesday. The Greatest Ed- itor the Tabloid Game Ever Knew was in despair. “Look at this!" he stormed to his assistant. “Nothing but junk. France, Germany, England, Japan and the United States have agreed never to go to war again, We've elected a Presi- YOUNG BLOODS OF THE NINETIES GOING THE ROUNDS OF THE PUNCH-BOWLS IN A LIVERY dent or something. Two British Dread- naughts have gone down with all aboard, and the Hawaiian Islands were wrecked by an earthquake. The Sec- retary of War fought a duel with the Secretary of the Navy, but there wasn’t any woman in the case. And there’s a big liner afire in mid-ocean with the Prince of Wales on the pas- senger list. And that's all. “How the devil do they expect me to fill the paper when nothing ever hap- pens?” mourned the Great Editor. T. B. [x Texas, the Fords are carrying Spare-tire signs’ inscribed with the words: “Pardon me—‘Ma’ did!” comicbooks.com