Life, 1927-01-13 · page 21 of 39
Life — January 13, 1927 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes 1920s American consumer culture and automobiles. The top cartoon, "If Looks Could Kill," mocks the Renault automobile exhibit featuring a six-day bicycle race around their car—absurd marketing theater. The humor targets both the car industry's gimmickry and the various American car brands (Willys, Whippet, Overland) competing for buyers, suggesting they all make identical "funny noises." The "Broad Street's Rating" section humorously ranks people by their possessions—crystal radios, cars, mortgages, children, and servants—satirizing how 1920s Americans defined social status through consumer goods. The bottom cartoon jokes about reckless driving and installment purchasing. A driver speeds dangerously but claims he's paid off his bus payment, so driving fast is justified. The final exchange between "Aunt Mary" and her niece mocks generational differences about dating behavior, a recurring 1920s anxiety about youth morality. Overall: satire of consumerism, automobile culture, and social anxieties of the Jazz Age.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
If Looks Could Kill Renault has a novel exhibit. A six-day bicycle race goes on around their longest model. The men start at the radiator and three days later may be seen rounding the tail light. Clever, too, is the radia- tor cap ornament—a tiny French cabinet in which a frane fluctuates up and down to the amusement of all. * * * Among those present is the Willys—Red Bird— Black Bottom—Overland—Whippet, which under a lot more names would still make the same funny noises. Persons who have purchased Whippets from side- walk vendors were informed at the Over- land booth that they could not expect free service on busted mainsprings. A.M.S., Jr. ‘OME people are always taking the joy out of life, and Congress is almost irely composed of Broad Street’s Rating Me. PECK—Crystal set. Mr. Magill—One-tube set and a flivver. Mr. Hunter—Six-cylinder car and a mortgage. Mr. Watson—Three children and a mother-in-law. Mr. Pratt—Bungalow, lawnmower and accessories. Miss Crabb—Four cats, high board fence and an unknown amount of first mortgage bonds. Mr. Briggs—Four-tube set and an cight-cylinder car. Mr. Bickers— Eight-tube set, twelve- cylindercarand a valet. Mr. Snyder — Four servants, three cars and two divorces, Bill Sykes. No Regrets UNT MARY: When I was your age I didn’t carry on with the boys the way 4 “Isn’T IT DANGEROUS TO Go so FAST?” you do. 7 “1 suouLp say NoT! I've PAID MY LAST INSTALMENT ON this Bus!’ “Well, Aunty, you didn’t miss much!" comicbooks.com