Life, 1926-08-19 · page 7 of 37
Life — August 19, 1926 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine satirizes early 20th-century office culture and gender dynamics. **Top cartoon**: Shows male office workers attempting to "dress up" a stenographer (female typist). The humor targets workplace gender relations—the men are literally trying to make her more presentable or "refined," suggesting condescension toward working women and the male gaze in professional settings. **"The First" story**: Depicts a man encountering an angel, playing on Victorian sentimental literature while mocking romantic idealization. The angel's exchange about income—"fifty thousand a year"—sardonically suggests that even spiritual encounters cannot escape materialist concerns. **"Rejuvenated"**: A brief comedic dialogue between former lovers who've aged, playing on nostalgia and physical decline, typical of *Life*'s light humor about aging and memory. The overall tone mocks both workplace hierarchies and romantic sentimentality of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE MALE MEMBERS OF THE OFFICE FORCE ATTEMPT TO DRESS UP TO THE STENOGRAPHER, T must have been the cther. Why, never before had he seen It was beauti- It delighted and talized him; it dazzled and inch ated him....Well, if this be ether, make the most of it: give him more of it, more and more of it! He'd take two operations like this a day. -..Two? He'd take three, four, five, six. They could operate on him indefi- nitely, if they could keep this vision be fore his eves. Yes, sir, most decid- edly!.., “It's over now,” he heard a voice sa Nurses with wings flapped by his side, soothing him. But it could- nt be over. Still the Vision was there. The excited patient began to rave: such a creature! ful. divine, “WHAT DOKS IT MATTER, DAD, AS LON OTHER, AND IT IS FIFTY THOUSAND A YEAR?” The First “Don't wake me up—please don’t wake me! Or you'll destroy it, hon- estly you will! More ether, more!” A white-robed angel placed cool ds on his brow. » now, or you will If worse. It will be bad enough anyway, I tell you. “Bad enough!” he repeated rap- turously. “Could anything be so “WHAT 18 118 INCOME AS WE LOVE good? But what is it, nurse?” he implored, looking this time with in- credulous eye on the Wonderful Thing. “If it be at all, what on carth is it?” ’ 1 girl,” said the angel, and flew to the office, where she to the record: “Day 6B—-ADAM—1 rib removed. Patient doing , Cyril B. Egan. Rejuvenated HE: So you don’t remember me? He: My dear girl, I do and I You are— : Mollie Jones. Now don't— How stupid of me, and yetthercis something dif- ferent. S Ih, I’ve had my knees lifted ce I saw you last. don't. HE modern girl is now he “hey! } day of her youth. comicbooks.com