Life, 1926-12-02 · page 25 of 81
Life — December 2, 1926 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the classic American circus or traveling carnival "pitch"—the rapid-fire, hyperbolic spiel of a barker hawking attractions to crowds. The exaggerated dialect and bombastic language mock the salesmanship used to lure paying customers with promises of extraordinary spectacles. The cartoons depict typical sideshow attractions: "Luna," the "world's fattest woman"; a living skeleton; "Dick Digit," the "world's most microscopic human"; strongmen; and other freakish oddities. The repeated "$teP RIGHT UP" header frames this as satirizing the dehumanizing exploitation and commercialization of people with physical differences or disabilities, presented as entertainment for mass consumption. The satire critiques how carnival culture reduced human beings to curiosities sold for dimes, using sensationalism and crude spectacle to extract money from the public. The ornate language and typography exaggerate the artificiality and manipulation inherent in the pitch itself.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Ghristms JT, 7 f° @ umber L ¥ H TEP RIGHT UP lay-dees and gen-til-men the big show the big show the BIG show the wondahs of the wuh-ld a galaxy of mahvils such as man has nevah seen beFOAH and may nevah see a-gaine you will loft you will thrill you will BOAST of this expeeerience faw-evah- moah see Cahlottah the winsome the be-U-tiful she chahms she chahms men she chahms rREP- tiles see huh chahm the feahsome suhpints see the gigahntic boah- constrictah the KING of suhpints as it coils about huh loveleh fi geh bewitched by the magic of huh flahshing eyes rrrREP- tiles ah huh slaves see Bobo see BOBO the tsfOOed man capchawed by feeahce CANnebils in the fah islinds of the South Seas and tattooed ovah one hundrid and ten puh cent of his punace manleh figgah he eats IAH and blaws fawth vahst Qquantitees of smgwk and spahks he suhwallows so-ahds he eats glahss with much gusto and dahn- cis bayahfootid upon quantitees of broken bottils faw yoah delectation and amusement see Luna SEE LU—na the wuhld’s fattist the wuhld’s most e-NAW- mis womin she tips the scales at sevin hundrid and sevinty- foah pouinds did I say tips she tuhns them OVAH she crushis them absoliuteleh see the 2iveeng SKELEtahn he is six feet ten and a hahf and weighs but sixty. foah and three Quawtahs and by him his insepribil compahnion Dick Digit the wuhld’s most microscopic humin he stahnds twenty-one and one thud inchis from the floah and weighs nothing whawtevah they box they engage in fistic combat and ludicriss and very droll it is indeed see Vigo the stroxg man the man of POWah the WUHLDS Mighty ist he rrends mahssive chains he brreaks BRRICKS he bends HAWSE shoes as though they woh but leathah in his fingahs the mighty SAMSON would be as but a child in his grahsp see Lupo the whawtisit the missing link IS HE HU——min if theyah is a scientist among you let him examine cayahfullee this mys- teereeis be-eng this meah frag- mint of ovah awchistrah which has just puhfawmed so beautifulleh faw you will now pahss INside wheah they will rendah a GRAH-ND CONSUHT which is but one itim on ovah stuPENdis pro- gtahm see all this and myri-ids moah the price lay-dees and en-til-men is but a dime ten cents the tenth paht of a dollah the line fawms on the right doné crowd theyah is room and paged faw ual Spats to speysah s' right. ees ahd en—themen the Big show is JUST. commenceng right away a dime ten cents the TEN—th paht of a dollah comicbooks.com