Life, 1927-02-17 · page 25 of 34
Life — February 17, 1927 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humor and satire page from *Life* magazine featuring several short comedic pieces and cartoons typical of early 20th-century American wit. **"From a Club Chair"** presents brief satirical observations on contemporary life: concern about aging and romance, American eagerness to read scandalous biographies of the Founding Fathers, and the dated fashion of coonskin coats. **"A Sure Bet"** jokes about a machine-gun salesman being wealthy—likely referencing 1920s bootlegging and organized crime, when selling weapons to gangsters was lucrative. **The guinea pig cartoon** satirizes Prohibition-era concerns: people use guinea pigs to test illegal "hooch" (bootleg alcohol) for poison before drinking it themselves. **The mother-daughter cartoon** depicts generational conflict over 1920s fashion—daughters wearing revealing flapper dresses while mothers disapprove. **"Hypothetical Hero"** imagines an obscure, failed boxer who gained "distinction" (unclear how). The reference to John L. Sullivan and Jim Corbett suggests early prizefighting. **The final quip** about Wayne B. Wheeler mocking stricter Prohibition enforcement reflects anti-Prohibition sentiment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
From a Club Chair T is some consolation to reflect that even the bucket-shop opera- tor is on some one else’s sucker list. -* *# ] am afraid I have grown too old for romance. I couldn’t approach an affair now without self-conscious- ness based on the fear that I might fail so ignobly as not to deserve ) libeling in the lady's forthcoming book. ** # There is no doubt about the United ) States’ having grown up now that it is so eager to read the low-down on its Fathers. 8 # I wonder whether the higher edu- cation would have progressed as it has if we had never fashioned the coonskin coat. s* @ I have yet to meet an optimistic banker, or a pessimistic mortician. *e * As v yw older, occasionally we reflect on what we would do if we had our lives to live over again. In my case, I believe I would choose a different tailor. ** # Mother: Daughter: I have noticed that there is a cer- tain balance in the letters I am receiving from friends at winter resorts. They seem to add as many degrees to the temperature they deduct strokes from their golf scores. J. K. McGuinness. A Sure Bet LEURETTE: Is your new friend rich? Atys: Rich! Why, say, that man is one of the big- | gest machine-gun salesmen in Chicago. AH—1 SEE YOU ARE A LOVER OF ANIMALS. BUT WHAT STRANGE PETS— Guinea pias!” YES'M. YOU GOT TO HAVE SOMETHING WITH YOU NOWADAYS TO TEST THIS POISON HOOCH YOU GET, DON’T you?” AREN'T YOU ASHAMED OF YOURSELF, W: GOODNEss, WOULDN'T WEAR 80 LITTLE CLOTHID EARING SO LITTLE CLOTHING TO A BALL? NO, MOTHER. IF I W ASHAMED OP 4 MYSELF I TO A BALL, Hypothetical Hero SHALL not give you his name. The truth is, I don’t know it. I am not even sure that there is such a person, I have merely assumed his existence. I have chosen to think that there must be at least one man of his type in the world, I have faith. This is my image of the man. He is old, paunchy, bald, and flat-footed— a broken-down ex-prizefighter. He didn’t get very far in the ring thirty y He lacked guts. John L, Sullivan finished him with one punch; Jim Corbett with two. Joe Choynski let him stay three rounds because he resembled his (Joe's) grand- father. Twenty-five other heavyweights were not so kind. In the forty-odd fights of his career he was knocked out thirty- one times by opponents and three times by himself. I have imagined him, in short, as one of the awkwardest and drabbest fight- ers of his age. But the years have brought him distinction. He has not written his memoirs for the papers... . Tup. Appreciation M‘42¢E: Did the Girls’ Club expel ¢ Dolly because she was so wild? Marsorie: No; we made her chaperon, HEN better laws are made Wayne B. Wheeler will veto them. comicbooks.com