Life, 1926-09-23 · page 14 of 40
Life — September 23, 1926 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon depicts a man at a counter or bar asking for "a little celery tonic"—a common 1890s health drink. The caption notes this was something "the fellow used to say" in the Gay Nineties era. The satire appears to be about how people's habits and preferences have changed. The man's polite request for a mild, healthful tonic contrasts implicitly with modern (to Life's 1910s-1920s readers) drinking preferences, likely alluding to Prohibition-era changes or the decline of such quaint Victorian remedies in favor of stronger alcohol or other modern substances. The remaining content includes short humorous items and a "Literary Market Note" about manuscript submissions, typical of Life's miscellaneous humor-magazine format.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Gay Nineties WHAT IHIAS BECOME OF THE FELLOW THAT USED TO SAy, Fire ! LANG, clang, clang! The fire-engines are dashing down the street! In the sky there is a bright red glow. Something must be burning. Why, of course! It’s the schoolhouse! The flames are licking the eaves and the cornice; they’re spreading; the timbers fall; it’s all ablaze! Clang, clang, clang! The engines can’t put it out: the hose has burst! The flames mount higher; now the walls are falling in; the books have all burnt up! At last there is nothing but a heap of embers and ashes where the schoolhouse used to stand... . Little Johnny has just had his annual dream the night before school reopens. N.R. J. “GUE S the most highly respected girl in town.” 7 “Who'd she shoot?” VLL JUST HAVE A LITTLE CELERY TONIC’? Literary Market Note a a form letter sent to their rejected and dejected contributors, the once staid Harper & Brothers recom- mend a certain book which tells, among other things, “How to prepare and lunch your manuscript.” We suspect Mr. Grant Overton, one of the authors of the work, to be responsible for the wording of the letter, though all we really know is that the gentleman is spend- ing some wecks at “Bread Loaf School of Enzlish, Middlebury, Vermont.” We leave to others the discov- ery of the subtle connection between lunching a manu script and the Bread Loaf School. What most concerns the unsuccessful writer is how to lunch himself. Frarey Story—He gave the waiter a fifteen-cent tip. “Thank you, sir,” said the waiter gratefully. comicbooks.com