Life, 1927-04-28 · page 22 of 35
Life — April 28, 1927 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1927 *Life* page satirizes social anxieties of the Jazz Age era through humor about etiquette, divorce, and dating: **"Worried Hostess"** jokes about divorce's prevalence among the wealthy—a woman frets over seating precedence for twice-divorced versus once-divorced guests, treating serial divorce as a status category. **"Lawyer Sends Invitations to Card Party"** is the page's centerpiece: a lawyer issues a party invitation as a formal legal contract, complete with conditions (arrival times, property liability, the invitee must "repair" broken hearts). This satirizes both excessive legalism and the era's anxiety about young "flappers" (Mary Stradling) as potentially reckless guests. **"Under the Knife"** uses gallows humor about medical procedures—a man jokes he'll have nothing left after removing his appendix, tonsils, adenoids, and nose bone. **"In Defiance"** (bottom cartoon) appears to show a rooster defying something, likely labor-related (a "Lay Off" sign visible). The overall tone reflects 1920s anxieties: rapid social change, divorce normalization, flapper culture, and modernization's disorienting effects.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life Worried Hostess (before dinner party) : JACK, DOES A WOMAN WHO’S BEEN DIVORCED TWICE TAKE PRECED- ENCE OVER ONE WHO'S ONLY BEEN DIVORCED ONCE? To a Quaker Maid in Fashion LESSINGS on thee, pretty miss, Quaker Maid I long to kiss, With thy merry, wanton quips And thy quirking, lip-sticked lips— All that sort of thing connotes That thee knows thy Quaker Oats! L.M. The Final Resting Place OW I know where all the safety-razor blades go. And old magazines and cracked dishes. I know where the three-legged chairs and dilapidated rockers disappear to. And broken bed springs and ragged rugs. I’ve just bought a summer cabin, completely furnished. J. AS. A Lawyer Sends Out Invitations to a Card Party HIS Acreement made this 26th day of April in the year 1927 between Mr. & Mrs. W. A. Sands, residing at 2827 Malcolm Street, New York, N. Y,, hereinafter styled the “INVITERS” parties of the first part and Mary A. Stradling, a flapper, residing in New York, N. Y., hereinafter styled the “INVITEE” party of the second part. i Wirnessetu: That the Inviters do hereby invite the Invitee to a card party at their residence, April 30th, 1927, at 8:30 Pp. M. The above invitation is made upon the following terms and conditions. First: That said Invitee shall make her appearance at the party, not before 8:30 p. Mm. on the afternoon named and not later than 9:30 Pp. at., unless prevented by floods, tornadoes, earthquakes or storms beyond man’s control. Seconp: That said Invitee shall take good care of the premises and fixtures and make good any injury thereto done during her stay on said premises. The Invitee shall surrender possession of said premises at 1 pr. as good condition as the reasonable use thereof will permit. Turp: That said Invitee shall repair or mend any unattached male hearts broken during her stay on said premises. Fourtn: Bridge or Five Hundred may be played and said Invitee has the right of Election or Waiver. In- vitee may elect to play the former and waive the right to play the latter, or vice versa. Firtu: Prior or contemporaneous extrinsic evi- dence is inadmissible to vary or contradict the operative terms of a valid bid, hence—If Invitee bids six spades and after receiving the widow raises the bid to seven, her original bid must stand. However, evidence is ad- missible to explain a latent ambiguity. Witness THe Fottowine Signatures aANp Seats: Mr. & Mrs. W. A, Sanps. Mary Strrapiino. Seat: F. L. Robertson. Under the Knife OWE: The doctor says I've got to have my appendix, tonsils and adenoids taken out and a piece of bone removed from my nose. Crowe: Gosh, you won't have much left, will you? Lowe: Not a cent. IN DEFIANCE comicbooks.com i | onl; clos don why all bef on Ah,