Life, 1926-02-04 · page 4 of 40
Life — February 4, 1926 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous domestic scene satirizing Victorian-era class consciousness and servant management. Jane, a maid, has committed a social transgression by putting ice directly into expensive Clicquot Club Pale Dry ginger ale—diluting this "delicate" beverage. Jenkins, the butler (identified as "descended from a long line of butlers"), responds with mock horror, citing his employer's strict orders never to ice this particular drink. The joke targets two things: the pretentiousness of servants who adopt their masters' snobbish attitudes about luxury goods, and the absurd rules governing proper beverage service among the upper classes. The advertisement at bottom promotes Clicquot Club Pale Dry as a sophisticated drink for "the refined taste," making the satire explicit—mocking both servant hierarchy and consumer vanity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Jane (a pretty maid, who has forgotten to put the ginger ale on the ice): “WELL, I MUST SAY, MR. JENKINS, I DON’T SEE WHAT YOU ARE SO PUT OUT ABOUT—YOU CAN PUT ICE IN HIS OLD DRINK, CAN’T YOU?” Jenkins (descended from a long line of butlers) : “YOU'RE A NICE GEL, JANE, BUT H’l’M H'AWFULLY H’AFRAID THE MASTER WILL BE SERIOUSLY PERTURBED. ’E ’AS SAID TO ME RE- PEATEDLY, ‘JENKINS, CHILL THE BOTTLES, BUT NEVER PUT H’ICE H'INTO CLICQUOT CLUB PALE DRY; H’IT’S BLASPHEMY TO DILUTE SO DELICATE A DRINK.’ ”” Connoisseurs appreciate the fugitire delicacy of Clicquot Club Pale Dry. It is a drink for the sophisticated taste. The Clicquot Club Company, Milli, Massachusetts, | comicbooks.com