Life, 1926-12-02 · page 44 of 81
Life — December 2, 1926 — page 44: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several cartoons and an essay satirizing 1920s American life, particularly focusing on women's behavior during Christmas shopping season. The cartoons mock: - **Prohibition era corruption**: A "used prohibition officer" neighbor, referencing how enforcement agents often became wealthy through bribery - **Car maintenance costs**: The running gag about fenders needing constant replacement - **Censorship absurdity**: A bathing beauty resisting modesty demands - **Celebrity gossip**: Speculation about Katherine Marrying a famous man (identity unclear from image alone) The main essay by Roger Burlingame humorously contrasts genteel femininity with aggressive Christmas shopping behavior. He claims women—normally "sweet and kind"—transform into violent competitors when pursuing holiday bargains, fighting with "elbows, shoulders, fists" and "jiu-jitsu twists." The exaggeration satirizes both the commercialization of Christmas and period gender stereotypes about "the weaker sex." The satire reflects 1920s anxiety about changing female behavior and consumer culture's intensity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Otristras T, 7 [Se Number Time to Retire? He: wito’s YouR NEW NEW-RICH NEIGHBOR? She: ou, e's JUST A USED PROIMIBITION OFFICER! Upkeep R. ONEWAY: What are you getting out of your new car? Mr. Boutevarp: Oh. About fifty miles to the set of fenders! No Contest “GOME one is trying to put some- thing over on me,” said the bathing beauty when the censor or- dered a blanket for her. More than Meets the Eye “ISn’? IT A SCREAM ABOUT KATHERID X-RAY SPECIAL MARRYING THAT FAMOUS 3" T? “YES—I JUST SIMPLY CAN’T IMAGINE WHAT HE SEES IN HER.” The Shopping Sex I LIKE the gentler sex, as it Is called. I like to see it flit About a ballroom or a stage, A picture or a printed page, A home, a skating rink, a screen, A tabloid or a putting green, But I confess it makes me hopping Mad when it goes Christmas shop- ping. It is no longer gentle then... Ye gods! The neolithic men, Engaged in plunder, loot and rout, Or hurling monoliths about (If that is what they hurled), were not A patch, it seems to me, on what This sex will hazard when, my dear, it Is shaken by the Christmas spirit. I've seen bums’ rushes, free-for-alls, Armed mobs dispersed and barroom brawls, And flying wedges, red with wrath, Lay out whole riots in their path; But these are naught beside the wrecks And havocs caused by this sweet sex (Which, otherwise, I find so pleas- ant) When diving for a Christmas pres- ent. They fight with elbows, shoulders, fists, Straight-arms twists, Half-nelson holds and certain hooks Omitted from the boxing books Because in this, our manly art, Umbrella handles play no part, Nor is the high-heeled shoe to step on Insteps a wrestler’s legal weapon. and new jiu-jitsu I like the weaker sex. In fact I find it full of sweetness, tact, Discretion, wit and every charm, And I should view with some alarm A movement to abolish it... And yet, at Christmas, I admit I'm much inclined to favor dropping The greater part of it when shop- ping. I cannot understand, I’m sure, How persons who are so demure, So peaceful, loving, sweet and kind Can undergo such change of mind... And yet, the fact remains. And so When winter comes I wish they'd go Away and stay upon the Isthmus Of Suez until after Christmas. Roger Burlingame. comicbooks.com