Life, 1927-05-26 · page 6 of 39
Life — May 26, 1927 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The "Modern Art Exhibit" cartoon at bottom satirizes modernist art movements through exaggerated sculptures. An elderly woman examines abstract pieces labeled "Madonna and Child," "Startled Faun," "Niagara by Moonlight," and "The Dawn." Her comment—"If these are strictly fresh, I'll take a dozen"—suggests she mistakes avant-garde art for produce, mocking both modernism's obscurity and wealthy collectors' pretension in acquiring it. The page also contains "A Spine Song" (medical humor), "Back to Earth" (urban-to-rural migration commentary), and "The Air Pedestrian" (early aviation satire). An "Open Letter" from Knob Center Chamber of Commerce promotes rural Indiana as vacation destination, humorously contrasting city life's noise and congestion with pastoral simplicity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A Spine Song (To Be Sung to the Good Old Pre- War Tune) CALL a doctor in the night time If your pulse is acting queer, For with him it’s just the right time To remove your leg or car. Cnorvus For it's always fair weather When Specialists get together, With your lungs full of ether And your fam'ly full of fear. Oh, it’s alw. fair weather When Specialists get together, With a spine on the table And a good saw ringing clear. JS. Back to Earth ITY-DWELLER (twenty years hence): Yes, we've given up our tower apartment and moved down to the ground floor. We liked it up there, but the noise of the air traffic was simply terrific. The Air Pedestrian WHIFFINGTON! you ovGlt ASHAMED OF yoursetr! you LET THAT MAN GET Away!" “waty, TO BE ACTUALLY Modern Art Exhibit Open Letter Knob Center, Ind., May 23, Mr. Calvin Coolidge, General Delivery, 1 Washington, D. C. EAR CAL: ' Whereas, you have been driven : from home by painters and paper- hangers, the members of the Knob Center Chamber of Commerce ex. tend to you their heartfelt sym. pathy. . As we also see by the Knob Cen- ter Enterprise that you contemplate a vacation in the Wild West, we de- sire to call your attention to the advantages of our thriving little city, We have to offer: , 1.) Our farmers have gone in for sugar beets (protected) and are not looking for relief. « 2.) Mr. Sam _ Blossom’s stone quarry offers good fishing and looks like a Vermont farm. 3.) Mr. Pat Angelo, our genial and leading photographer par ezcel- lence, specializes, at moderate rates, on hay-pitching, plowing and other pastoral scenes. 4.) Mr. Hiram Bogg’s gulch back of town is famed for its triple echo and gives three words back for every one uttered. 5.) We have no bolsheviks, Sen- ators or mosquitoes, You'll like Knob Center. Others do. Come on out, Cal, and we'll show you a real Hoosier welcome. Yours for a Bigger, Greater and Better Knob Center, Tur Knop Center Cranper or Commerce. Not-So-Nearsighted Old Lady: ie TieSk ARE STRICTLY FRESH, I'LL TAKE A DOZEN, 7 comicbooks.com