Life, 1926-08-19 · page 12 of 37
Life — August 19, 1926 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate humorous pieces: 1. **"Canned Service"**: A satirical description of a Parisian telephone service that uses phonographs and loudspeakers to deliver pre-recorded responses. The joke mocks automated customer service—a subscriber asking for "Charleston 8888" receives only canned romantic phrases instead of helpful assistance. The satire critiques both modern technology's inadequacy and the absurdity of mechanized human interaction. 2. **"Loos Talk"**: A cartoon depicting men in hats discussing women's vanity, with the caption about women never stopping to think about appearances—ironic commentary on gender stereotypes and vanity. 3. **"The Final Rejection"**: A brief anecdote where a junk dealer rejects humorous material, comparing it to "waste paper," suggesting publishers were oversaturated with such content. The page satirizes modern technology, gender stereotypes, and the publishing industry circa the 1920s.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Canned Service ELEPHONE | subscribers in I is are now told, “The num- ber you ask for has been changed; consult the — telephone book,” by means of a machine which is partly phonograph and_ partly loudspeaker. You can picture the result if the telephone operators sce fit to augment the collection of rec ords to relieve the tedium of a switchboard. For instance, the fol- lowing scene: Svusscriner: I want Charleston 8888. Puonocrarit (in the middle of a record): “Charleston, hey-hey! Hey-hey !” Svuascriner: Yes, please. (.1fter a few bars.) I'm waiting. Loos Talk Puonocrap “My dear, the “V’VE DECIDED MY FEELING FOR YoU 18 P. SAL. world is ing for the sunrise.” “OM, DADDY—WIHAT DOES THAT MES Svusscriner: Yeah? And what do you think I'm w g for? Puonooraru: “Just a little love, a little kiss—” Susscrinern (blushing prettily): Pretty fresh, aren’t you? Puonocraru: Consult the tele phone book. Sunscriner: What for? Puonocrariu: “Not for just an hour, not for just a day—” Svusscriner: Come on, cut out the fooling and give me my party. Pitonoara o many parties and too many pals—" Svusscriner: Now, look here, oper ator, cut out this fooling or I'll re- port you to the manager and see that you get fired. Pronocrari(sweetly and softly): “I'm sorry, dear, so sorry, dear..." (As this is a very sad song, the sub scriber breaks down and weeps; the salt tears cause a short circuit and the subscriber is electrocuted.) oy 4 \) ELT NY SS Ay. Bo FY Henry William Hanemann. > 2 The Final Rejection “QORRY,” replied the junk man, as he surveyed the humorist’s bale of rejected jokes, “but we can’t use your stuff just now as we're overstocked with waste paper. How- ever, you may be able to dispose of it elsewhere! H E: Dress your best to-night, ny “THE VANITY OF THESE WOMEN 18 SIMPLY APPALLING, dear, because after the theatre “YEAH—THEY NEVER STOP THINKING ABOUT APPEARANCES.” we're going to a tough night club. comicbooks.com