Life, 1927-05-05 · page 20 of 46
Life — May 5, 1927 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1920s *Life* magazine page satirizes the emerging technology of **television telephones**—imagining videophone service in homes. The main article mockingly depicts a woman who finds her husband suicidal but is more concerned with her appearance on camera. She calls police while primping, flirting with the operator and the arriving Irish police lieutenant. The satire targets **female vanity** and the absurdity of conducting emergencies through visual media—the humor lies in her priorities being completely inverted (looking good > saving her husband's life). The sidebars feature two additional jokes: one about a couple arguing (she calls him unspeakable), and another about a diver's wife wearing fancy clothes in the rain. Both reinforce stereotypes about women's impracticality and obsession with appearance. The comedy relies on period gender stereotypes now considered offensive. The "Irish" policeman character uses exaggerated accent humor (common in era). The satire assumes videophone surveillance would primarily enable romantic/vanity scenarios rather than practical emergency response.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Television SIMPLY can’t wait for the day when there will be a television telephone in every home. Aside fromthe social possibilities just imagine the fun it will be report. . ing a fire or calling a policeman or both. Suppose, for example, you come home some day and find your husband b de for no reason at all, You hastily put on your favorite negligee, curl the ends of your hair, y straighten your lipstick and ‘ rush to the television thing. 0 “Hello, I want a_police- man,” you say, noting mean- \ while that the operator has t had her eyebrows plucked. y \ d “Right-o,” answers the operator. “That's an aw- i fully smart outfit.” f “Do you really like it? i I'm terribly glad,” you re- ‘ ply. “But would you mind : hurrying? My — husband seems to be well on the way * to ending it all.” 1 “No! Let's see!” “Oh, all right, but I wish r you'd hurry.” 2 Just then a big, deep voice, or a little, wee voice, She: you UNSPEAKABLE PIG! worps FAIL ME! dinacized ules C + . a = medium-sizec voice He (rho has been getting a good hauling over the coals <palias Hoadadavtere * for the last half-hour): THANK Gop! Gal’ the handson ise f and the handsome Irish face of the police lieutenant ( Bye, Bye, Bivalve appears. The operator is . LWAYS at a loss about something, our present worry very much annoyed and van- i is over what oysters find to keep themselves occu- ishe » with a few ‘curses. pied during months in which there is no “R.” I wants a politheman, Baby wantth a politheman, . , . you lisp with your most al- . I* these days even a rich man can't keep his wife juring smile. Sh ‘adi m th | decently dressed. “Bejabers, begorra, shure Rat ven’ from the and phwy, you bit of a col- °°" baiyat) : * aon Litt itt 7 leen?” says the lieutenant, betel hei iae an THE G placing his hands on his hips BOCGH—4 eee algal rs ‘i and shaking his head from ey side to side in the droll He: ann now! Irish manner. “My husband is suiciding,” you say. “Here, give & look.” You step aside so the officer can see your husband cutting his throat, or hanging himself, or standing with his mouth over the gas-jct, as the case may be. “Is that him? The funny-looking guy with the low comedy ears?” asks the lieutenant. “I must admit he’s not looking his best but that’s the one.” “He has a button off his vest,” the lieutenant will remark, just to show he could be a detective if he wanted to. “Are you quite sure it wouldn't be best, after all, to leave him alone?” “Whose husband is he? Mine or the Police Depart- - ment’s?” you return loyally. “And how about that Diver’s Wife: wuat’s THE IDEA, COMING HOME IN THAT _ policeman?” ouTFiT? “Well,” says the lieutenant thoughtfully, “I only “a7’s RAINING AND I DIDN’T WANT TO GET WET.” (Continued on page 37) 4 IN comicbooks.com