Life, 1927-04-21 · page 14 of 39
Life — April 21, 1927 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1920s *Life* magazine page contains satirical commentary and cartoons about contemporary urban life. **Top cartoon**: Depicts galley slaves being whipped, with the caption contrasting their labor to modern office workers complaining about crew work—satirizing white-collar complaints about workplace conditions. **"Brief Reflection by a City Editor"**: A short poem mocking reporters' need for news sources, attributed to Baron Ireland. **"Early Metro-Goldwyn"**: Jokes about a wealthy woman's pretensions after visiting Versailles. **Bottom cartoon**: Shows a street vendor and child in a "Sand-Lot Scandals" sketch about street games and gambling, typical period humor about urban youth culture. The overall tone satirizes contemporary American urban society—workplace grievances, social climbing, and working-class street life—common *Life* magazine subjects of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Brief Reflection by a City Editor NCE a reporter I would choose Because he had a nose for news. But in these days of tabloids he’s Compelled to have a nose for knees. Baron Ireland. Early Metro-Goldwyn “WV EAH,” said the flapper tourist after she had been ushered through room after room of the mag- nificent palace at Versailles. “It’s pretty nifty, all right. What picture they got showing here this week?” BEVERY trade has a publicity man now except the taxpayer. One Galley Slave: wuat’s Another Galley Slave: av EN-HUR GETTING SO CHESTY ABOUT? ’T you HEARD? THEY'VE MADE HIM STROKE OF THE CREW. March The first post again full I of handsomely engraved 30th invitations from real estate firms to buy this or that co-op- erative apartment, which do greatly flatter me, who am barely able to make payments’ for the imported pretzels I have recently sent to friends departing for Europe. But had I the wealth of Ormus and of Ind, I should lay none of it out for a permanent flat for fear of drawing a downstairs neighbor like the old zany who does now live below us, whose latest complaint is that we raise our windows when we go to bed. Gossiping with my husband, poor wretch, whose most recent turn Sand-Lot Scandals Stranger: Were’s YOUR BALL, KID. HURRY UP—YOU CAN GET HIM AT THIRD! of fancy is that he would have made out so much better in some pro- fession other than the law. Lord! we cannot see a motion picture with- out his mentioning how -much the industry would gain by making him a director, and he has even felt that he could do splendid missions as a member of some colleg ulty, but I do believe that if a good fairy were to offer him his choice in a change of vocation, he would con- sider that his noblest field of effort would be as Ambassador to St. James’s or as a partner in J. P. Morgan and Co. To luncheon at Sally Hamlin’s, finding there Jane Thompson, whom I did know at Smith College, and she told how Mistress Charlotte Per- kins Gilman had remarked in a lecture yesterday how people were usually down on what they were not up to, which I did deem a sage ob- servation, Then we fell to cards, I having such miser- able fortune that I was at some pains not to burst into tears, but I did bawl for a libation instead, and Sally, finding the house void of sparkling water, and never being able to recall the name of the tradesman who fur- nishes her with it, did fetch her opera glasses and train Mickey: Murry up NUTTIN’! I’M GITTIN’ A DIME FER T’ROWIN’ DIS GAME. (Continued on page 31) comicbooks.com