Life, 1927-01-13 · page 32 of 39
Life — January 13, 1927 — page 32: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains humor pieces and light satirical content typical of 1920s Life magazine. **"The Literal-minded Fare"** shows a comic strip about a taxi driver and passenger negotiating fare in Paris—the joke hinges on literal interpretation of French currency and travel distances. **Brief anecdotes** include social humor: jazz musicians, a Scottish man refusing cigarettes due to burning leather smell, a Chicago tenant worried about "machine gun pivots" (likely referencing Prohibition-era gangster violence), and a woman whose button pops off her riding coat—her husband quips it's "force of habit." **"To an Orange"** is a sentimental poem about oranges becoming fashionable due to vitamin marketing (the "Richest in Vitamines!" label), contrasting their former humble status. **"More Coolidge Economy"** jokes that President Calvin Coolidge's frugality extends to assigning only one Secret Service agent to guard his son at Amherst College—implying dangerous cost-cutting. Overall, the page reflects 1920s concerns: economic uncertainty, Prohibition, nutritional fads, and Coolidge-era politics.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“oRIVER—THE NORD—AND poueLe ¥ “RIGMT YOU ARE, SIR. YOU WATCH US TRAVEL.” GARE DU ny “wnat! six sous? 18 that YOUR vouBLe Tir? “CERTAINLY, MY FRIEND. 1, USUALLY GIVE ONLY THREE.” The Literal-minded Fare “How do you tune these jazz instru- ments?” “/p WALK A MILE FOR YOU, DEARIE.” —Ohio State Sun Dial. —Le Rire (Paris). Aid in Preaching Two colored men down in southern jana were bewailing the hard times in the agricultural district mes is tighter than IT ever seen them before,” said one. “I can’t even get hold of a nickel! If somethi don't turn up I'm going to start preach- ing. I done that once and I ain't too good to do it again.” —Indianapolis News. Declined “McDownatt, will ye not have a ciga- rett “Thank ye, no. I never smoke wi’ gloves on, I canna stand the smell of burning leather.’"—Hareard Lampoon. “I pox’r like it,” said the prospective tenant in Chicago. “No conveniences— not even built-in window-ledge pivots for machine guns.”—Columbia State. “Janz, it’s eleven o'clock. Please tell that young man to shut the front door from the outside.”—-Red Cat, To an Orange In days gone by we thought you rather Bi Playing a humble—tho’ not hidden—part, The darling of the undiscerning many, Sold from a stall (at two or three a penny) Or coster’s cart. And yet at times, caught by your golden beauty, One wondered—“Was't perchance such fruits as these That tempted Atalanta’s feet to dally, Or burned among the boughs in some bright alley Of the Hesperides?” But all things change, and you are scorned no longer, But honored, sought, acclaimed on pic- tured page; No more your lovers are apologetic; To be concerned with matters dietetic Is all the rage. And now you yield to neither pines nor peaches, To muscats pale, nor delicate nectarines, But cheerfully adorn the proudest Since yours it is to bear the glor label— “Richest in Vitamines !” —Rose Fyleman, in The Spectator. Off They Come! A panticutanty stout lady, attired in very tight riding attire, was taking her morning canter in the Row, accompanied by her husband. Suddenly a button, un- able to withstand the excessive pressure, flew off the lady's coat. “Dear, dear,” said the wearer fretfully. “What makes these buttons come off?” “Ahem...force of habit, my dear,” murmured her escort. Sporting and Dramatic News. More Coolidge Economy I the President has been reading any of the college novels that have been published in the last few years, he is exercising remarkable restraint in assign ing only one Secret Service man to guard his son at Amberst. —New York Merald Tribune. ANTRACHITE “SURELY 17’s GOING To Go DOWN.” “coaL?” “NO—THE TEMPERATURE.” —Le Canard Enchainé (Paris). comicbooks.com