Life, 1927-04-21 · page 13 of 39
Life — April 21, 1927 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents an "Alibi Contest"—a humor feature where readers submit creative excuses to awkward social situations. The contest offers $100 weekly in prizes ($50 first prize, five $10 second prizes). **Alibi #14** shows a bachelor explaining to a woman how he accounts for a wife and child despite being unmarried—his excuse is that he's always a "summer bachelor" in California. **Alibi #19** depicts a social awkwardness scenario: a woman (Mrs. Ship) questions how someone could pass by an intimate acquaintance (Mrs. Clymer) without speaking. The humor centers on fabricating plausible excuses for social rudeness or contradictions. This reflects early-20th-century American humor: readers competed by inventing witty explanations for embarrassing situations—a participatory entertainment format common in magazines before television.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ALIBI NUMBER FOURTEEN She: you TOLD ME THAT YOU’RE A BACH- ELOR. IN THAT E, HOW DO YOU AC- COUNT FOR THE WIFE AND CHILD? He (a movie star): WpLL, You SEE, IT’S tus way...I am a summer bachelor, and it’s always summer here in Cali- fornia. This Alibi, which wins the first prize of $50.00, was submitted by Ursuta Sevvers, 5127 Lytle Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Five second prizes of $10.00 each have been awarded to the following: : J.M.C y, New York City, for the Alibi: “You merely said, ‘You're a bachelor, aren’t you?’ and since I've become a DeMille star I answer everything, rather absently, ‘Yes’. Dorotity Crawrorp, San Fran- cisco, California, for the Alibi: “That's just a little pre-movie stuff I happen to have on hand.” Genevieve Dyer, New York City, for the Alibi: “I was all set for a close-up; but now that the Director is on the lot, it will have to be a fade-out.” Watter M. Mason, Pullman, Washington, for the Alibi: “I was afraid your husband might object if (Continued on page 36) Conditions of the Contest on page 36 $100.00 Weekly in Prizes HE pursuit of the elusive Alibi is rapidly becoming the sport of sports. True, it is no longer a pastime exclusively for amateurs. Lire, means of weekly cash offers, caused thousands of hitherto simon-pure alibi-chasers to abandon their amateur stand- ing and turn pro. ALIBI NUMBER NINE- TEEN, the newest of this now famous series, appears below. Study the situation as pictured by Raymond Thayer; you will ob- serve that Mrs. Clymer has been pointedly ignored by a lady whose intimate acquaintance she pro- fesses to enjoy. She must invent, without delay, an Alibi, or excuse. If you can complete, in a suffi- ciently clever and ingenious man- ner, her sentence which begins: “Well, you see, it’s this way...” you are in line for one of the cash prizes. Read the simple condi- tions on page 36, and bear in mind the date on which your answers must be in. The prizes are as follows: First Prize, $50.00 Five Second Prizes of $10.00 each ALIBI NUMBER TWENTY will be published in Lire next week, with a new set of prizes offered. ALIBI NUMBER NINETEEN Mrs, Snip: now pogs IT HAPPEN, IF YOU KNOW MRS. UPTOP 80 INTIMATELY, THAT SHE PASSES RIGHT BY WITHOUT SPEAKING TO YOU? Mrs. Clymer: weui, you sex, 1T’s THIS WAY... comicbooks.com