Life — March 4, 1926 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "A Day with the Happiness Boys" This comic strip satirizes a popular radio duo of the 1920s-30s called "The Happiness Boys" (also known as "Laff and Gaff"). The strip depicts their morning routine and public appearances with exaggerated humor. The comic mocks their cheerful persona and relentless catchphrase "How do you do, everybody, how do you do" (visible in panel 8). Each panel shows mundane daily activities—waking up, breakfast, office work, public speaking—contrasted with their perpetually upbeat demeanor. The satire targets the artificial cheerfulness required of radio personalities and entertainers of the era, suggesting the exhausting performance of constant happiness even in ordinary or awkward situations. This reflects contemporary skepticism about manufactured celebrity personas.