Life, 1926-04-08 · page 46 of 52
Life — April 8, 1926 — page 46: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This humorous essay satirizes the frustrations of attending a cinema in the early 20th century. The unnamed male narrator describes a comedic series of mishaps: losing his wife in the dark theater, repeatedly wandering from his seat and disturbing other patrons, bumping into a heavyset woman with bundles, losing his hat, and generally creating chaos while trying to watch the film. The satire targets several period concerns: the distraction of advertising (the hat in the shop window), wives' shopping impulses, the difficulty of navigating crowded theaters, and the chaos of finding seats. The piece humorously illustrates how the simple act of watching a movie required patience and endurance, mocking both the theater experience and the social incompetence of the average male patron. The irony is that despite all this turmoil, the couple finally succeeds—offering a gentle, relatable conclusion to domestic frustration.
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SRE ntness, dizziness Auto, Air or Car Travel. sill’ will promptly end of Travel Sickness, ¥ 73 & $1.30.at Drug Stores or direct The Mothersill Remedy Ga te x fo Fairy Tale a time a ten-ton safe hoisted to the twenty- f a thirty-story building in sight to watch the “I’m Too Fat” That's folly nowadays Look about you. Note how slender- ness prevails. cess fat is not on tenth so common as it was. | Ask those slender people why. Some will “I starved and exercised.” More will say took Marmola Pre- scription Tablets and they brought my weight down at once.” That's the modern, scientific way, the easy pleasant w People have used it for 18 years. Now they are using 100,000 boxes monthly because of the proved results. Investigate Marmola in fairness to yourself. Don’t let excess fat blight your beauty, your health, your efficiency, when millions know how to avoid it. We state every ingredient in M mola, tell you how and why it acts. will know why results, which seem so amazing, come in a natural way. Then are bound to let Marmola bring you to the weight you want. Prescription Tablets are sold t gists at $1 per box. Send this coupon for our latest book, a 25-ct. sample free and our guarantee. ‘Clip it now. The Pleasant Way to Reduce General Motors Bldg. DETROIT, MICH. Let's Go to the Movies WE. are walking by the Orpheum, sh kL: % —my wife—and has just met me outside the office after do- ing some sh At present, | am hoping to steer her safely by the thea- tre, with its glaring posters and pic- tures. Across the street in a store win- a hat with a red feather sign. I nudge my wife dow I ¢ and a "$4.93" Th on you, my dear.” re’s what I should like to see hat, I believe, is , and I hope it may ract her attention, She needs a new actful sent di hat anyway, and it may save me a show But no, she cither disregards me or sn't hear me. She is slow ng up, ing intently at a ¢ sign in front of the theatre finally stops “Oh, Horace,” she gushes, “it's Harold Stacom My experience has taught me the futility of day! Let's see it.” protest. I leave myself to my fate and dig i o my pocket. Inside, the usher takes our tickets and begins to lead us down the aisle. As usual, my wife tells her to never mind, and we go down alone. As is my unfailing custom, I lose my b ness. I soon drift from my course and stumble on so ings and my wife in the dark- seats, thus eliciting “Hey,” and a “Too can’t get a seat with- out disturbing the whole show.” I pick up my hat, and plod onward. some grumbles, bad some peop! screen a man is chasing a and I am just beginning to wonder what it’s all about, when plunk! I have wandered off the aisle again. By the tin and have tu “Hey, ther have comp I have ri ed an angry glance to a whisper, I tely lost sight of my wife sit dows Then I hear a whisper, “Down here, Somebody titters, but 1, f relief, continue a few Horace.” with a more rows and go in. A fat lady with a heavy fur coat and an armful of bundles rises, and I squeeze by and sit down I take off my overcoat and mop my face with a handkerchief. 1 lean over Well, here we are at and whis; last, my dear.” At that, an enraged face nd under my nose. “Sirrrr!” I . find that I haven't it on, and murmur some sort s turned wince, move to tip my ha of apology Then, as my eyes become more ac customed to the dark, I sce my wife in the aisle down front. With some more apologies, T bump my way out and j my wife To my surprise, we find two seats to- gether and arrive safely in Then comes my usual struggle with my hat. Under cach seat, there is a simple—but ter- ribly complicated—contrivance for hold- ing hats, with which I have never, in » _~ it When the finest cost buta quarter for twenty— Wh y not Smoke the Finest ¢ ‘ONDON & 25¢ ron TWENTY ‘TO BE HAD EVERYWHERE spite of five minutes of fumb! ng, had ny success. I haven't this time, either Next, there is my coat o matter how I fold and unfold it, it persists in being in the way. So I philosophically ign it to the floor. Now I am all ready to see the pic- ture, of which we have a ady missed half and of which we shall never get the trend. But that’s the least of my troubles. E. Scott Hamill. Broadway Definition INECURE—1 robe mistress position of ward- | a musical revue. For Your EYES _ Wholesome cassie Refreshing rade Old Golf Balls For