Life, 1927-01-27 · page 25 of 35
Life — January 27, 1927 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two satirical pieces from the 1920s Jazz Age: **"Parlor Scorpion" cartoon**: A brief joke mocking the decline of formal social etiquette. A man in formal dress appears startled as a flapper tells him people no longer "stand on ceremony"—they literally step on it. The satire targets the generational clash between Victorian propriety and the more casual, irreverent behavior of younger women. **"Mrs. Pep's Diary"**: A society woman's humorous account of Manhattan nightlife, featuring observations about late-night dining, homemade pickles, and encounters with fashionable people. The tone is lighthearted social commentary on urban leisure culture. **"Bootleggers Must Advertise"**: A brief satirical piece on Prohibition-era ironies. It notes that illegal liquor dealers paradoxically advertise their arrests in newspapers as publicity—when someone is fined for bootlegging, they appear in print, which actually benefits their business by making their name known. The overall content reflects 1920s American anxieties about changing social customs, urban modernity, and Prohibition's unintended consequences.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
the be- Tees t of flint has pos- Ossi~ le to smnens in the stone, know ts to se? - that ken a meri- that I front SRE a Parlor Scorpion: propLe pon’t STAND ON CEREMONY ANY MORE. Frantic Flapper: No—tury step ON IT. January Lay unaceustomedly late, 5th for that this morning at two o'clock whilst my husband and I were sitting quietly over a bedtime beaker and a ré- sumé of the party we had quitted, he did suddenly bethink himself of onion soup au gratin, and nought would do but that he must drag me up to Keuben’s for a bowl of it. Sat there some time, too, much interested in the patrons who came and went, and speculating as to how they looked and acted when they were at home. Moreover, they did move Sam and me to a most profound sociological discussion from which we emerged agreed upon the conclu- Sion that the proper thing to do in the search for the fullest felicity is to take a front seat for the passing show and not rattle one’s program too much, We did also mark that many persons never have much to y about God unless they sit up after midnight. This morning did arrive from the Woman's Exchange a great consignment of assorted pickles, and I do be- lieve that if who- ever put up the pepper and cucumber relishes were given suitable publicity, she would become as rich as the old lady who capitalized her peach jam recipe in “Turn to the Right.” Moreover, if I myself had been pre- cocious enough as a child to get from our old Lottie her formula for deal- ing with tomatoes, small onions and Jerusalem artichokes, Mr. Cartier would probably be lying awake nights wondering where on earth he could get another pearl to match the middle one on my most inconsequen- tial string. Barring that, I should at least be a transatlantic com- muter. This afternoon Sam did join Effie Goings and me at a shop in order that we might see some stuff out of which he wishes me to have an evening gown, and the two devils, by some pre- arrangement, did put chicle — into their mouths and chew it busily throughout the trans- action, but I did pre- tend to take no notice of it, thereby cheating them of the pleasure they expected — from my annoyance, and when a_ prominent member of an exclu- sive society which Effe is trying to make did come up to the counter and detect her in her assumed vulgarity, I did begin (Cont. on page 31) Bootleggers Must Advertise FULL page in the Saturday Evening Post is cheap com- pared with what the liquor gentry pay for a line of type or two in a newspaper. Their ads usually read: “John Jones, 355 Clearwater Street, $500.00 and costs for illegal posses- , Smith, Room 1078, Mercantile ig, fined $350.00 and costs for ille- J ed $400.00 and costs for illegal manu And within ten minutes after the paper is off the press Mr. Abe Cohen will call up the editor and register a complaint because his business ad- dress was omitted. Bill Sykes. LET’S GO AND CALL ON SOME ONE. Polly: 1 thought tTuat was A New nat! comicbooks.com