Life, 1927-04-14 · page 24 of 38
Life — April 14, 1927 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three unrelated humor pieces typical of early 20th-century Life magazine: **Top cartoon**: A street scene satirizing American wealth-accumulation obsession. A shabby man requests a dime from a well-dressed gentleman. The punchline reveals the man already has $999,990.99 and wants the dime merely to round his fortune to a million—mocking both the relentless pursuit of round-number wealth and the absurdity of penny-pinching among the nearly-rich. **"The Same Old Professor"**: A nonsensical joke where a hot professor wipes his face with a glass of milk, then drinks his handkerchief—playing on absurdist humor common to the era. **"And Now the Joke Serial"**: An ongoing serialized joke about a man asking another about a mysterious woman. This format was a Life magazine feature, with readers invited to guess the punchline before next week's reveal. **"Self-Protection"**: A brief gag about Prohibition-era hip flasks and the popularity of "Ask Me Another!"—an apparently trendy quiz book guests might carry. These represent typical satirical humor of the period: wordplay, social observation, and gentle mockery of contemporary concerns.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“A DIME? “WoT DO I WANT A DIME FuR! HUNDRED AN’ nN Ree WHAT THE DEVIL DO YOU WANT A DIME FoR?” WELL, MISTER, I'LL TELL YER. NINETY-NINE THOUSAN’, NINE HUNDRED AN’ NINETY I'VE GOT NID DOLLARS AN’ NINETY CENTS, AN’ I’ JUST LOVE T’ MAKE IT A MILLION.” And Now the Joke Serial The Same Old Professor THE Prof. was very hot and so, To furnish some relief, He wiped his face with a glass of mL And drank his handkerchief. Teacher: BEFORE WE BEGIN TO STUDY THE CRIMEAN WAR, CAN ANY ONE TELL ME WHERE THE CRIMEA 18 sITU- ATED? What Has Gone Before: OHN SMITH, a citizen of New York, was whiling away a hot August evening on the Ritz Roof. While there he happened to see George Jones, a business acquaint- ance, dancing with a lady. The lady was unknown to Smith, as he did not recall ever having met her before, nor did he have an opportunity during the evening to secure an introduction. The following day, however, while walking down Fifth Avenue, he meets Jones. After the customary casual greetings and inquiries about business and health, Smith engages Jones in conversation. Now go on with the joke: Sst: Who was that lady I saw you with last night? Jones: That wasn’t a lady; that was (Who was the mysterious woman Jones wes with? Read all about it in the next number. On the newsstands Tuesday.) J. FP. Self-Protection RAWFORD (at friendly gather- ing): Are they frisking the guests to see if they are carrying hip flasks? Cransuaw: No, they're confiscat- ing the “Ask Me Another!” books. comicbooks.com