Life, 1927-06-09 · page 7 of 39
Life — June 9, 1927 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three distinct pieces of satirical humor typical of early 20th-century Life magazine: 1. **"To a Wild Rose"** (poem by Leslie M. Roberts): A humorous love poem using extended metaphor, playing on romantic clichés. 2. **"Passport Dope"**: Satirizes the bureaucratic absurdity of obtaining U.S. passports. The piece mocks how officials require applicants to submit sketches (which they will poorly reproduce and circulate to foreign officials), making the process inefficient and embarrassing. It's satirizing government incompetence and red tape. 3. **"The Super-Satirist"**: A brief joke about a novelist who debunks overly earnest modern literary types. The cartoon shows an everyday domestic scene with the caption "Although you belong to somebody else, to-night you belong to me," likely mocking sentimental romantic expressions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Toa Wild Rose M* love is like a wild, wild rose. I Her stems, uncovered, grect the eye In toto. Shapely? Yes, God knows! (And so do you, as well as 1.) My love is like a wild, wild rose. ‘Tn artful guile she sways, to beck Me to her side. And then she goes And sticks her thorns into my neck! My love is like a wild, wild rose. Yor when I seize and hold her tight, Limp in my grasp she lies. And so’s A rose by any name you write. Leslie M. Roberts. Passport Dope Ik you are planning to go abroad, it is easy to see that you must have a passport. They won't let you abroad without a passport or something to show to the man. If you haven't got a passport to show him, you can show him some of the snapshots you took at the beach last summer, but he would rather look at a passport. Who wouldn't? The first step in getting a passport is to write to the State Department in Washington and ask them nicely for one. Following is a suggested form letter to the State Department: May 29, 19— (Name of year.) Dear Stussy: What a swell guy you turned out to be, letting me take that trolley Thursday night instead of telling me that the bus went right by the door! It took me an hour and a quarter to get to Butch’s and when T got there no- body home. So I went into Lester's and had a combination sand- wich and let it go at that. The next time you want some fun, try getting my suitense out of the rumble seat of the Chrysler. Well, what's mine is yours. You know that. Sincerely, (Name of applicant.) was After sending this let- ter to the State Depart- ment, it will be neces- sry for you to wait until “ALTHOUGH YOU BEL. Life Wo Absolutely RUT REALLY, DEAR, 18 THAT THE TRUTH? est! CROSS THE STREET AND EXPECT To DIK, tT 18! they answer you. This ought not to take more tha k, if you know what I mean. vill then be enough for you to take the physica examination. This ought not to be much trouble, provided you have taken any kind of care of 3 or of anybody else. It consists chiefly of informal folk dancing in and out of the examination-room while the State Department officials | make sketches of you. The best of these |! NG TO SOMEBODY ELSE, TO-NIGHT YoU BELONG To ME.” sketches (which are none too good) are finished up on a stiff cardboard (3x4 is a very poor size and should be avoided) sent to you at your home, together with paper for wrap- ping and mailing. Now comes the is called tting hard part. ‘This a visa.” Take the sketch which the passport officials have made of you and show it to the representatives of the tries which you wish to visit. will find them in every Whitsun foreign coun- You their offices on at four p.m. At four-five p.m. they go out to lunch until next Whitsunday, so you will have to work fast. They will prob- ably not like the sketch and will make no bones of saying so. Or, better yet, they will not be in their offices and you can give the whole thing up as a bad job. Anything want to do? Robert Benchley. The Super- Satirist EE that man over there. He's the very latest type of novelist.” “Is he really?” “Yes, he debunks the debunkers,” else you comicbooks.com