Life, 1927-03-03 · page 8 of 35
Life — March 3, 1927 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains satirical advice and humor columns typical of Life's social commentary. **"Do the Thing Right"** offers tongue-in-cheek maintenance tips for White House upkeep during the Coolidge administration's renovation, mocking both the building's condition and executive life. **"The Call of the City"** depicts a young man debating whether to leave farm life for urban opportunity—a common theme of the era's rural-to-urban migration anxiety. **"So You're the One!"** presents a character claiming exceptional interest in people and willingness to discuss anything, satirizing a particular social personality type. The cartoons and brief dialogues mock contemporary social conventions, romantic posturing, and the tension between rural tradition and urban modernity. The humor relies on recognizing familiar social types rather than specific political figures.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life “i Do the Thing Right | {lt j (Since the Coolidges are Vacating the White House for h 7 Repairs) ‘AKE rattle out of executive bed-chamber window, Fix roller on shade that always shoots to top of window when chief executive starts to undress. Plane off closet doors so they won't stick. Take squeak out of back stairs. Elevate warm-air pipes of furnace so chief executive will not scalp self after banking fire for night. Install enough electric base plugs to suit chief execc- tive’s wife, or as many as Congress will allow. Anchor dining-room buzzer under rug so chief execu- tive’s wife can find it with her foot while talking to dis- tinguished diplomat. And. Wash, paint and place the fly screens. McC. H. So You’re the One! I™ exceptionally interested in people. I'm interested in all people and in everything that interests them, no matter how trivial. I’m so interested that, with me, a dull conversation is impossible. I like to talk about anything that has to do with any one else. It might be your clothes, your appetite, your home and its furnish- ings, your complexion or your health. As long as it's yours, I'll talk about it. If I don’t know much abost what's on your mind, I'll ask about it. And I'll do it with genuine interest; I'm sincere. I smile all the time we're talking. Perhaps it’s a tie you're wearing. If you ask me how I like it, and I think you like it, I'll say, “It looks great. How much did you pay for it? My, isn’t that reason- able? I've wanted one just like that for months. I think that sort of tie becomes one so. It does make a difference in one’s appearance, The Call of the City doesn’t it? It OUNG HIRAM lay awake all night trying to de- Bives one so much cide whether he should stay or run away. Just be- prestige. It has fore sunrise he made up his mind. Hastily packing half a dozen expensive traveling bags, he crept from the house, pausing only long enough to scribble a note lik > and leave it on the electric stove where his mother OL one Laren would be sure to find it when she started to prepare h » yes, you breakfast: have. I'm the Other Person in those new dia- logue advertise- ments. J. 4. P. “Is MY DAUGHTER IN THERE?” Falsetto Voice from Inside: Get AWAY FROM THEM SWINGING DOORS... . Bees What's that? You've never met The hum of the sedan motor as he drove away awak- ened Pa and Ma Silo, but they thought he was just com- ing home and went back to sleep. A few hours later they found the note: “Dear Fotxs: I am leaving the old farm and going into the city for a while. Easy! I know it’s a dirty trick to pull out just AUL: If I when the harvest is to start. But there's a knew you bet- circus in the city and it seems to me that ter I'd kiss you. I've got to take it in. All my life I've Betty: If wanted to sec a horse. you'd kiss me “HAVE YOU ANY AMBITION BESIDES “Your loving son, Hiram.” you'd know me WANTING TO LOOK BEAUTIFUL?” Chet Johnson. better!” “OM, YES—1 WANT TO BE TOLD 1 D0.” comicbooks.com