Life, 1927-05-05 · page 21 of 46
Life — May 5, 1927 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page collects three distinct comic pieces mocking early 20th-century social trends: **"Two 'Ask Me Another!' Fans Meet"** satirizes trivia obsession. Two men compulsively answer obscure questions (citing Freud, Maugham, Hood) while discussing mundane topics like weather. The joke is their pretentious name-dropping and the absurd digression about "Caribou's wooden nickel currency"—pure nonsense presented as fact. **Father and Mother dialogue** jokes about parenting desperation: the mother had to blow 47 smoke rings to get the baby to sleep, exaggerating the exhausting effort required. **"Her Line"** and **"Overheard"** mock romantic sentimentality. The poem idealizes a woman's "frank simplicity" and innocence, while the overheard restaurant monologue parodies melodramatic suitors claiming absolute devotion—the punchline being the woman calls him a liar, deflating his flowery declarations. The magazine ridicules intellectual posturing, domestic chaos, and insincere romantic performances of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Two “Ask Me Another!” Fans Meet “LTELLO, Joe!” “Hello, Mike! How's the old “According to the Bible a man’s years are threescore and ten, and who was it that said, ‘A man is as old as his inhibitions’ ?” “Dr. Sigmund Freud, the noted Viennese psychoanalyst. Can't catch me on that one. Looks like rain, don't it, Mike? “Rai Rain? Oh, yes! The name of a very successful play, founded on a short story by the eminent English author W. Somer- set Maugham (1872—). You see, I remember, I remember. . ."” “That's easy. ‘The house where I was born,’ Thomas Hood (1799- 1845), distinguished English poet.” “Same old Joe! Well, I got to be moving along. You won't take any wooden nickels, will you?” “Not a chance. The Republic of Caribou is the only place in the world where the coinage system is founded on a wood standard, one cent (gumwood), nickel (oakwood), etc., and I don’t mean maple! So long, Mike, See you to-morrow and to- morrow and to-morrow.” Father: Mother: yes, av Last. WELL, DID YOU GET THE BABY TO SLEEP? 1 HAD TO BLOW SMOKE RINGS FOR HER, AND SHE DROPPED OFF ON THE FORTY-SEVENTH. ““Creeps in this petty pace from to day.’” hakespeare.”” “Line 19 et seq.” Mike and Joe press each other's hands with suppressed emotion and go their separate ways home. Courtenay Akt. “WOT DIDJA GO AN’ CONFESS FoR?” T TRIED TO HOLD IN BUT THEY TOOK ME RIDIN’ IN A POLICE FLIVVER AN’ JOLTED TH’ STORY OUT oO” ME. Her Line LINE? Ah, no; she comes to me Refreshing as the summer sea; For all the other girls I know Are far too worldly-wise, and so Before her shrine I bend the knee. I love her frank simplicity, Her innocent, unstudied glee, And pray that she may throw never A line! From smart sophistication free; As vernal as a young birch tree; Her candid spirit’s joyous glow Diverts me from the passing show. Her artlessness—sa A line? Overheard (In a Red Ink Restaurant) “TOLAINE, you're wonderful! All these cynical theories about men being polygamous may or may not be true. But there’s nobody else for me but you, Elaine. If I were a musician I'd put you into a song— for you mean all the divine melodies in the world to me. When I hear Schubert’s ‘Song of Love’ it seems as if something ‘way inside of me turns completely over on its axis... Of course I’m nothing in your life— just a passer-by, that’s all, Elaine, But jus’ the same, a man can have his dreams. he said that? She's a cockeyed liar!...” Gracian M. Kelley. comicbooks.com