Life, 1926-11-04 · page 27 of 40
Life — November 4, 1926 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several humorous sketches mocking 1920s social pretensions and romantic narratives. **"Women at Their Worst"** ridicules wealthy women travelers obsessed with their strict diets. A woman describes trips to Egypt, Persia, and India but fixates entirely on food availability—sauerkraut juice, gluten toast, spinach—completely missing each destination's cultural significance. The satire targets self-absorbed tourists indifferent to the world beyond their own dietary routines. **"The Surly Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Frosting"** parodies melodramatic vacation narratives, ending anticlimactically when the couple simply removes their masks and goes to dinner. **The co-ed joke** plays on pronunciation: "bérets" (French caps) sounds like "berries" when pronounced quickly—a weak pun the author himself admits "isn't a very good joke, at best." **"Soft Soap"** presents minstrel-style humor (Tambo and Bones characters) with a burglar pun: a burglar's wife's husband is like "a circulatin' letter" because "he's around robbin'"—typical of early 20th-century variety comedy. The overall tone mocks pretension, superficiality, and sentimental storytelling conventions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Great Tabloid Moments I A Roum in the Emperor’s Palace HE EMPRESS: A nice fool you made out of your- self this af- ternoon t the Circus Maximus. Whatever made you spare that miser- able Chris- tian slave? Cavigua (simply): Her lions appealed to me, (A hollow laugh re- herates the 11. THEY WOULD II Lake Erie by Moonlight Commopore Perry: Don’t give up the ship, boys. Joux Paut Gorpsteis (Yeo- man Virst Class): But, Commo- dore, suppose they make us a good offer for it? (At this point everybody takes off his or her mask and all go in to supper.) The Surly Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Frosting AND SO THEY RETU DOVER VOWING THAT, COME WIIAT MAY, THEY HAD HAD CITING VACATION AND ONE LONG vitro. (The End—and it's about time, too.) Second Co-Ed: wat Do you THINK OF THESE NEW BASQUE CAPS THE FELLOWS ARE WEARING? First Co-Ed: 1 THINK THEY’RE THE BERETS. (Norte: Really to “get” this joke you have to know something of French. The word “bérets” is pronounced “berrays,” and if you say it quickly enough, with just the proper slur, it will sound like “berries.” If you knew all this in the first place, you can dis- count this paragraph. Anyway, it isn’t a very good jook, at best.) Women at Their Worst OU: And did you enjoy Egypt? Sue: Well, you see, I’m on a strict diet. At eight I take a small glass of sauerkraut juice—then for breakfast I have two slices of whole wheat toast, a poached egg and a cup of hot milk. Then at ten o'clock You: They say Cairo’s an awfully interesting place—— Sur: Nonsense — the spinach is disgusting. Why, you can’t get good spinach in Egypt for love or money, and I'm on a very strict diet. I was simply driven out of Egypt because of the spinach. But as I was say- ing—at ten o'clock: You: How was Persia Sue: I was never so disap- pointed in my life. You simply can’t get decent butter or fresh vege- tables there. Now for instance —I'm accustomed to having two well-done lamb chops, — three ounces of mashed turnips and a slice of gluten toast for my lunch- con. But there wasn’t a single slice of gluten toast to be had in all You: suffered! Sue: NED TO A MOST EX- THAT REMEMBER. How you must have Why, I was a nervous wreck by the time we reached India. Oh, but India’s a delight- ful place—I've never tasted such elicious salads as we got in a, or was it Madras? re a great race. Nobody e world can poach eggs like a Hindu! But as I was saying —at ten o'clock I take two ounces of crisply baked You: Balloon soup! Robert Lord. Soft Soap ead your Palm our Life Buoy Then I'am out of Lux! “TAMBO, WHY 18 A BURGLAR’S WIFE’S HUS- BAND LIKE A CIRCULATIN’ LETTAH?” “AH DON’ KNOW, MISTAH BONES. BURGLAR’S WIF WHY 18 A S HUSBAND LIKE A CIR- CULATIN’ LETTAH?” “BECAUSE HE’S AROUND ROBBIN’.” comicbooks.com