Life, 1926-10-21 · page 27 of 44
Life — October 21, 1926 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1920s *Life* page satirizes two distinct targets: **"Just Between Us Girls"** (left): A young woman complains obsessively about dieting and weight—she's gained five pounds despite months of "thinning exercises" and now must give up foods with calories. The satire mocks the era's intense diet culture and the pseudo-scientific language women absorbed ("carbohydrates," "calories") while remaining confused about actual nutrition. The exaggerated capitalization and breathless tone parody how women discussed these trivial concerns as life-or-death crises. **The Radio Concert Schedule** (right): Lists a corporate-sponsored radio program's half-hour structure, which is almost entirely advertising and corporate messaging (8:30-8:50) with only 5 minutes of actual concert (8:45). The satire exposes how commercial radio prioritized relentless product promotion over entertainment. **The Bottom Cartoon**: A businessman asks an interviewer to portray him as "timid" and sensitive with "a feeling for beauty"—satirizing corporate image-laundering and the gap between business ruthlessness and desired public personas.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life 25 cause I mean I've simply LABORED entire MONTHS with these THINNING exercise effects » I've GAINED five POUNDS—can you Well, I mean they SIMPly do you NO good re not a BIT better than these reDUCING garment effects which are simply POISonous to WEAR and make you feel kind of like a balLOON or some- thing and I mean I've simply reSIGNE going on a FRIGHT fully strict DI fectly diVINE-looking young DOC- tor that MOTHER has_ hanging aROUND all the time told me that the ACtually only REA F get THIN was to DIE 4 said it was ALL simply a matter of HYBOCARdrates or something and CALories or something in wha . which comPLETELY me, my dear, because I m » SOUNDS so kind of sc everything. Well, ANY PLAINED to me that thes effer HEAT which mak dis i fat if you keep ing them and of COURSE, my dea simply EVERYthing a girl would NATorally like—I mean perfectly ious chocolate CREAMS and VENly SOdas with whipped CREAM and everything are simply NOTHing but these obJECtionable CALorics and every kind of simply VILE food that is perfectly re- VOLTing and everything has simply hyboCARdrates in it and absolutely NO calories. Well, I mean, wouldn't you simply KNOW it would be that way, my dear? ACtually I’m so de- T ’M positively conSUMED with RAGE, my dear, be- and, my deg BEAR it? because th Y because this per- baffled PRESSED about it I don’t know WHAT to do! I mean I'm UTTERLY sunk—I ACtually AM! Because I mean I simply LOATHE giving UP all these perfectly INE things that have CALorics in them but I mean I've simply GOT to, my dear, because I'm getting POSitively clePHANtine because I mean I ACtually weigh a HUNDRED and thirteen pounds, my dear— I mean I HONestly DO!” Lloyd Mayer. The Half-Hour Radio Concert 8:30 veancers grt of the tion letters, the an- 8: nouncer's greetings, his identification. —Naming of the corporation furnishing the en- iption of what the corporation manufactures, where it can be bought, reasons for its superiority. 8:38—Description of the branche 8:40—This is to be an African program. Description of the Afr branch, the natives, how they got that way, if any, and inspirational value of product. 8:43—Introduction of the troubadours. Each re- sponds to his name with “Hello, folks,” or some other original quip. 8:45—The concert. 8:50—Announcement of the station letters, the an- nouncer’s name, the corporation supplying the music, the corporation's product, its reasons for superiority, where it can be bought, the names of the entertainers, the sta- tion’s letters. 9:00—The next advertising program. factory and American E.R. HEN better laws are made Americans will break them. Business Man (to interviewer): NOW, ALL YOU GOT TO DO IS MAKE ME OUT A TIMID, SENSITIVE FELLOW WITH A FEELING FOR BEAUTY. comicbooks.com