Life, 1927-05-12 · page 11 of 43
Life — May 12, 1927 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical essay mocks the impracticality of four-in-hand neckties—a formal tie style popular in the era. Benchley humorously complains that the tie has become too tight around the collar, forcing him to diet to reduce his neck size rather than simply loosening the knot. The central illustration shows three men in formal wear demonstrating the tie's appeal, with a smaller sketch depicting a struggling man trying to manage it. The cartoon satirizes masculine vanity and the absurdity of fashion conventions that prioritize appearance over comfort—men would rather endure physical discomfort than admit their bodies don't conform to fashionable standards. The "London letter" caption references contemporary fashion-advice correspondence, poking fun at formal menswear rituals.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life 9 © lé Four-in-Hband Outrage By Poobext Benchley 9) HAT has happened to four-in-hand ties that / they refuse to slide around under the collar any Or am I just suffering from a perse- more? cution complex? For maybe ten years I have been devoted to the soft collar or sport model, the polo shirt, and other informal modes in collarings af- fected by the jeunesse dorée. They have not been particularly adapt- ed to playing up my good points in personal appearance, but they are easy to slip into in the morning. With the approach of portly middle-age, however, and the grad- ual but relentless as- sumption of power in the financial world, it seemed to me that I corners. size (I can reduce it at any time by dieting for two or three days), 1414 is no longer my number. So I bought And, owing to a temporary increase in neck- several styles of a more modern collar and prepared to throw the world of fashion into a tumult by ap- pearing in formal neckwear on, let us say, the following Wednesday at high noon, But in the ten years which have elapsed since I last tied a four- in-hand under a stiff collar something per- verse has been injected BASREPVILLE into the manufacture of either the ties or the collars. My male readers will recognize a maneuvre which I can best designate as ought to dress the part. When a man goes into a bank to ask to have his note extended he should at least wear a stiff collar and a four- in-hand of some rich, dark material, preferably a foulard. He owes it to himself. So I laid in a stock of shirts (two) which called for either stiff collars or a knotted bandana, and then set about digging up some collars to go with them. My old stock of “Graywoods 141," which I used to wear in high-school proved useless, They were of the mode, so flashy in those days, which came close to- gether in front, allowing just a tip of the knitted club-tie to peek out from under the “Why don’t “I can't, old fellow. I'm waiting for my London letter.” t on your trousers?” practically impossible. the Final Tug, the last short pull-around of the tie under the collar before tight- ening the-knot. This, under the present system, has become The tie refuses to budge; I pull and yank, take the collar off and rearrange the tie, try gentle tactics followed suddenly by a deceptive upward jerk, but this gets me nothing. The knot stays loosely off-center and the tie appears to be stuck somewhere underneath the collar at a point perhaps three inches to the right. After two minutes of this mad wrenching one of three things happens—the tie rips, the collar tears, or I strangle to death in a horrid manner with eyes (Please turn to page 37) comicbooks.com