Life, 1927-06-23 · page 8 of 38
Life — June 23, 1927 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several brief humorous vignettes typical of Life's satirical humor: **"No Wasted Eloquence"** depicts a marriage proposal rejected almost immediately—the joke being that the woman says "yes" before the man even finishes asking. **The traffic accident cartoon** shows a collision where both the officer and victim blame the other party, with the officer claiming the gentleman's car was "barely moving" while the victim notes the radiator cap stuck in his eye—absurdist humor about accident blame-shifting. The remaining sections—"Excelsior!," "Nubville Spark," "Big Woolen Trust Magnate," and "A Piece of Her Mind"—are brief anecdotes poking fun at everyday social situations: career ambition, small-town gossip, business schemes, and marital domestic disputes. The humor relies on exaggeration and observational comedy about middle-class American life.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
She: You WERE RIGHT, DEAR, AND 1 WAS WRONG. He: FORGIVE ME, DARLING. No Wasted Eloquence TX RED: I was going to propose to s Ear. Frep: Not a bit. before I got started. Maybelle and she cut me short. Wouldn't consider it, ch? She said “y Life Excelsior! E was a brave man. Indeed, no one doubted it. At the age of three he had called his nurse a liar for telling him about Santa Claus. During his ‘teens he had carefully explained the great secrets of life to his parents. He had played football for his high school and for his college. During his Senior year he had blithely re- fused to contribute to the annual endowment fund cam- paign, and had escaped alive. He accepted challenges wherever he met them. He spent a whole year of his life going about telling his best friends that they had hali- tosis. He ordered chicken salad every day for a year at the same hour and in the same restaurant. And once he had appeared on the street with a cane and a top hat. Nothing fazed him. He de- lighted in swearing at hotel clerks and telling them how poor were the institutions they worked for. He went through Europe without tip- ping any one, and, in the Café de la Paix, he sent back the check (for eight covers) because of an error of two francs. He rode in French taxicabs. He bulldozed customs in- spectors into agreeing with him that his two trunks full of black bottles contained mineral water. Traffic Officer: GkT UP—yYOU AIN’T HURT. THIS GENTLEMAN’S CAR WAS BARELY MOVING. Victim: But, OFFICER, THE GODDESS ON HIS RADIATOR CAP STUCK HER FINGER IN MY EYE. He had to choose a career. He selected his firm, walked over two office boys and a secretary to get to its president, and convinced the lat- ter of his fitness for the job in 4 ten-minute interview. He is now the complaint-adjuster in the ladies’ underwear section of a big department store. Samuel Grafton, Nubbville Spark “LINDBERGH is gettin’ Nubb- ville folks interested in geog- raphy in spite o’ themselves.” Secretary: MARVELOUS SCENERY, ISN'T IT, CHIEF? Big. Woolen Trust Magnate: scen- ERY BE HANGED! 11’s IDEAS THAT I'M AFTER! 1 WANT YOU TO PLAN SOME SIMPLE SCHEME FOR HARVESTING THE WOOL ON THESE ROCKY MOUNTAIN seep! A Piece of Her Mind GATHA: Did Ella dare to find fault with her young daughter for arriving home with the milkman? Harriett: No. She scolded the milkman for coming so late. PRESENT gencrations are too finicky. The old hansom cabmen never complained of back-seat driv- ers. comicbooks.com