Life, 1926-11-04 · page 10 of 40
Life — November 4, 1926 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine satirizes the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale adaptations. The main dialogue shows President Hans Christian Andersen of "Fairy Tales, Inc." and Vice-President Jakob Grimm discussing how to modernize classic stories to appeal to contemporary children. The satire targets two issues: 1. **Bowdlerization of classics**: The executives plan to replace traditional content (like Red Riding Hood) with sanitized versions featuring modern figures like Elinor Glyn, removing moral lessons that made original tales valuable. 2. **Commercial exploitation**: The cartoons mock how publishers were repackaging classic literature for profit without understanding their educational worth. The joke assumes readers value traditional fairy tales' darker elements and moral lessons, viewing their corporate "improvement" as corrupt modernization.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life Fairy Tales, Inc. Scene: Private office of President Hans Christian Andersen of Fairy Tales, Inc. He is in conference with Vice-President Jakob Grimm and Secretary Wilhelm Grimm of the well-known Grimm Brothers. ‘DERSEN: Well, now, I called you boys in this afternoon to sort of talk th It's my idee we ge the hundred-per- . reaction to these here now ‘y tales we should ought to Seems like they need pep-- up or sor thing. Am I right? Tur Grimes (admiringly): You said it, H. ANDERS Now there's this here Red Ridin’ Hood thing. I've been gettin’ the reactions of a lotta kids on the thing an’ they don’t absorb the angle at all. There ain’t no sex appeal, that’s what! Tue Grimms (deferentially): Ain't it the truth, H. C.? Anpersen: So what I want you should do, bi is get some fancy paid writer like Elinor Glyn or some- body to rework this here story. Now, of course, we got to get the wolf outa the MS. because modern kids ain't interested in’ natu- ral history. So we'll have this Elinor Glyn or Michael Arlen or somebody change the wolf in- to a sheik that has before five in the morning, so we make it that she thinks the sheik is throwing a party with a case of im. ported stuff or something, only when she gets there she finds he’s alone and she’s in his power, and of course Revere One The Conventional Black there ain't no taxis to get home in. Do I register, boys? Tue Grinas (servilely) : You sure do, H. C.! A : Yeah, So they's a great moral struggle for a couple chapters, like in that serial in True Blah, only after a while the girl cries, “Supposing you had a sister!” So that appeals to the sheik’s better nature, so he yells, “My God!" and then they get mar- ried. Will the kids fall for that, boys? a yen for this here The Surly Adventures of Red Riding Hood Mr. and Mrs. Frosting (that’s a hell of a 3, “as a MATTER oF Fact,” name; you better sai THE MAN, “rt AM dope out a good one), so he lures her into this place in the woods, Is that K. O.? Tue Grins (ob- sequiously): It’s Sure-fire, H. C.! ANDERSE: Yeah, I sort of fig- ured so. Well, we cut out the grand- Tur Griuas (sycophantically): eat it up, as YOUR UNCLE . FROSTING REPLIED THE DERSEN: h, 1 Vell, now we'll take up this one about the Three Bears... Tip Bliss. (Continued on page 10) Proud Owner: wuat po 1 owr you FOR THE NEW ROOF, MR. FURBUSH? Ov R odd-job man reports that the Mr. Furbush (a carpenter): Not a CENT, SIR; 1T’s ON THE House! (And, sure enough, it was!) mother, because the gal would know her grandmother wouldn’t be in bed only men in a position to tell their wives where to get off work on street cars, comicbooks.com