Life, 1926-06-03 · page 14 of 44
Life — June 3, 1926 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct pieces of humor content from what appears to be the 1920s-1930s era. **"The Book of Etiquette: How to Phone Your Bootlegger"** satirizes Prohibition-era social customs. The joke mocks how Americans had to develop coded language to discuss illegal alcohol sales. The text describes absurd euphemisms and elaborate pretexts—phoning about "Scotch," discussing the "Brooklyn Bridge," or referencing fictional relatives—to disguise bootlegging transactions as ordinary social conversation. It's social satire on how Prohibition created a culture of deception that infiltrated everyday phone etiquette. **"Phyllis Learns to Drive"** humorously depicts a young woman receiving driving lessons, with quoted dialogue showing exasperation from both student and instructor about gear-shifting, traffic awareness, and speed control—typical period humor about women drivers as inexperienced and overly cautious. Both pieces reflect early 20th-century social anxieties: Prohibition and changing gender roles.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
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