Life, 1926-09-30 · page 23 of 36
Life — September 30, 1926 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces about college life and social pretense. **"Baker ('26) Revisits the Varsity"** mocks the awkwardness of returning alumni. Baker, a recent graduate, repeatedly fails to be recognized by former professors and classmates. The humor lies in his deflation—he expects to be remembered but is forgotten or confused with others. This satirizes both the transience of college life and the ego of young alumni. **"The File Clerk"** cartoon depicts office tedium: a young woman at her desk, likely illustrating the mundane reality of clerical work—a common job for women of this era. **"Smoldering Mamma"** is a brief joke about a young man borrowing his roommate's slicker (raincoat) and fireman's helmet for a date, suggesting he's planning romantic adventure or impression-making through borrowed props and false pretense. The opening cartoon satirizes Sunday school teachers misquoting the Bible—when asked what "gushed forth when Moses smote the rock," the boy answers "beer and light wines," suggesting the teacher reads newspapers obsessed with Prohibition-era alcohol scandals rather than scripture.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Sunday School Superintendent: wuat GUSHED FORTH WHEN MOSES SMOTE THE ROCK . > IN THE WILDE Little Eric (who reads the papers): ER—BEER AND LIGHT WINES. Baker ('26) Revisits the Varsity on Opening Day » well, wv same old Certainly looks fa- What a lot of fresh- men there seem to be this year.... Gosh, did we look like that? Won- der what kind of a football team Professor Maxwell! Professor ire you, sir? Have a nice summer? Teaching Greek again this year? Why, my name's Baker. No, not Bakewell, Baker. I was in your class last spring. Dont you remember? I was the san you gave a 72 on the fina! exam. Yes, of course. No. T don’t think so. You sce. | graduated last year. I was "26, Well, good-by, Professor Maxwell. Glad to have seen you Same old Maxie. Gosh, a life, teaching Greek! re’s the old Chemistry lab, just as dirty as ever. Glal I don’t have to go there any more. And there's the Econ classroom. And there's the-—— Why, BILL HENDRICKS! How are you? Gee, it’s good to see you! Playing football this fall? How's the team? Going to win, eh? No, I'm not Joe Saunders. I'm Baker, Jim Baker. I sat next to MCh The File Clerk you in Physics last spring. Don’t you remember? Sure! Oh, I thought you were Bill Hendricks....You look a lot like him. Sorr. No, that’s all right. Your face looked familiar, that’s all. Guess I'll take a stroll and see how the old place is getting along. There’s Moe Steinberg’s shop, same as ever. Good old Moe. Hello, Daisy! Hey, Daisy, hello! Hel What's that new building, I wonder? Looks like a dor- mitory. I wonder if that’s Tom Fritch across the street. Well, maybe he wouldn't ree- zee, this place has changed since I left.... Norman R. Jaffray. Smoldering Mamma “CAOT a date with your girl and want to borrow my slicker? What's the idea?” “That's only half of it. Do you know where I can bor- row a fireman’s helmet?” comicbooks.com