Life, 1927-01-06 · page 25 of 39
Life — January 6, 1927 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Life magazine page (circa 1967) contains multiple satirical pieces: **"If It Keeps On Growing"** depicts a humorous domestic complaint: a Sunday newspaper delivery is so massive that the Rotogravure (illustrated) section was forgotten during moving. The joke satirizes newspaper bloat—publications had grown unwieldy with advertisements and supplements, making them difficult to physically handle. **The parrot cartoon** jokes about "yes men"—sycophantic employees who agree with everything their boss says. The parrot, raised by such a person, mindlessly repeats "yes," illustrating how toxic workplace yes-men cultures produced unthinking conformity. **The car illustration** shows slapstick humor about an automobile mishap. **"Window" section** lists pawn shop inventory in poetic style, contrasting humble goods (buttons, pins, watches) with musical instruments (banjos, accordions), satirizing poverty and economic desperation during working-class struggles. **Minor pieces** include romantic poetry and brief witticisms about relationships and social behavior typical of the era's satirical magazine format. The overall tone reflects post-war American consumer culture anxieties and workplace conformity concerns.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Rondeau of Pretty Violent Repudiation R all of me, you may be caught In choking nets of grief, O taut Slim girl that was my heart's delight And made the misted world seem bright— Now I know well how you were bought jeweled and rounded thought... See what your easy capture’s brought! All tongues may rot this very night, For all of me. With speech Too-fluent mouths have never fought With cleansing doubt: their worth is nought. You should have seen beyond the trite, Smart epigrams I used to cite; You should have plumbed ; you should have sought For all of me! Simonetta, If It Keeps On Growing — [" is a Sunday morning, 1967. A I van is parked in front of the house, and four men are pull- ing on the ropes of a block and tackle. Perspiration streams from their faces and necks. They pull and curse and pull and curs A fifth man, standing on the load, calls down: “Hi Joe, serapin’. Joe pulls out on the guide-rope. . .. At last the hoisting is over. The men relax, panting. They take out handkerchiefs and mop their faces. Suddenly the man who went up with the load sticks his head out of the window into which the load disap- peared. “Hey, Joe, it ain’t all here. He lowers the hook. Joe turns to his fellow workers. “Come on, you guys. Look—we forgot the Rotogravure Section.” So the men strain at the ropes again, and the subscriber gets his Sunday paper complete. T. G. wat has be- ~ come of the girl who used to say, “Mother, do I look all right?” before going on a party? out — we're pull EARLS...collar beaded bags heavy Seal Wallets & Pocket Books” Elks pins, Masonic pins, Odd F lows pins, Affiliated Order of Your Affiliated ii MORE LOAN OFFICE”...beaten flower vases, slightly turned russet ..- “Genuine deemed pledges,” rosaries, wedding rings, engraved hunting - case watches, diamonds ” ++.three balls in gold what russet.... B. K.: wuat’s Tuk MATTER WITIL YouR PARROT? LIne ~ IIE KEEPS REPEATING THAT ONE WORD ALL THE TIME. H. J.2 1 KNow. Hk’s A TOTAL Loss. HE WAS RAISED BY A “YES'’ MAN, Window Left of the entrance: buttons... .waldemar chains, gold - filled...“Genuin Pin Order Sexe THAN ANY OTHER brass 25% 25% affre’...°* Unre- leaf, * some- uy, ILL TEACH YOU TO JUMP out aT ME!” Right of the entrance: Police whistles...hand bags, Gladstones, brief cases, trunks (fit- tings a delicate russet), Boston bags, twenty or thir pocketbooks... footballs...electric fans...saxo- phones,...ukuleles, banjos, gui- tars, mandolins; banjo-ukes (or may- be it’s uke-banjos), banjo-guitars (or maybe it’s guitar-banjos), banjo- mandolins (or maybe it’s mandolin- banjos), banjo-banjos. ..cornets... accordions...suit cases...fishing outfits, trimmings rather ru—no, just plain brown. ..planometers (no foolin’)...umbrellas ... telescopes, brass fittings as above. ..poker chips ...clocks (and such clocks!) .. .dol- lar—no, dollar-fifty watches. ..rare old violins. . .feather-dusters. ..cym- bal symbols... . The world must be full of a num- ber of things. ... Wayne G. Haisley. Proof Enough ORTENSE: And do you think he was in earnest when he pro- posed to you? Marsoniz: Yes — his cigarette went out and he didn’t notice it. DD Similes—As_self-controlled as a man who can let his wife murder his favorite story without in- terrupting her.” comicbooks.com