Life, 1927-08-04 · page 38 of 40
Life — August 4, 1927 — page 38: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily a **Coca-Cola advertising contest** (offering $30,000 in prizes), not political satire. The main content asks readers to identify six reasons for Coca-Cola's popularity from prior advertisements. The only cartoon-like content is a small illustration at bottom-right showing a domestic scene with the caption "IS THAT GIRL LETTING HER HAIR GROW?" / "NO, SHE'S JUST NOT STOPPING IT." This appears to be a simple visual gag about a woman's untidy appearance—likely mocking contemporary beauty standards or grooming habits. The majority of the page is occupied by "A Strictly American Lexicon," which satirizes working-class American dialect and pronunciation (e.g., "wanna," "godda," "doan"). These phonetic spellings mock colloquial speech patterns, reflecting a common 1920s literary device that portrayed lower-class speech as both humorous and inferior to standard English. The cartoons/satire here are **not political**—they're social comedy targeting appearance standards and class-based speech patterns.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
36 Life Contest Closes August 25th Find six keys to the popularity of Coca-Cola and send in your entry The “six keys” are the six outstanding reasons, given us by the public’ why millions like and drink Co a-Cola, We disclosed the first “key : crs are just sily discovered They have been illustrated and presented in J “ola advertis between the first week nd now ny: newspapers, in The Saturday Evening t, Literary Digest, Lib erty, Collier's Weekly, Life, and in posters anc outdoor signs throughout the country, and in w window ¢ J the soda foun and refreshme yrations of the many thousands of places that serve Coca-Col. Ve ys a I find the sixth “key” in the advert n the oppe ve alreadls k and find entered th appea them if you have not a contest. Just three things todo: keys" and hone. »peals to you @ good reason for the popularity of Coca-Cola. Then write an a graph) ne and Wi er (in one para- to this question: s pieces used to fountains and re- or more of the * nd also where you s For the correct namin the best answers following cash prizes will be awarded » the two ques Ist. prize $10, 2nd prize sy ded prize 2 4th prize i Sth prize 10 sixth prizes (each 100 20 seventh prizes (each) 200 eighth prizes (each) 25 400 ninth prizes (each: 10 A total of 635 prizes $30,000 Follow these simple rules Contest closes August i. " An Beanies anit ip of the Inter erly Associated and the President of the nd their awards shall A Strictly American Lexicon , verb, Combination of and “to.” Combination of “do” | W: ANN? “want doan, rerb, ind “not.” “You wanna eat?” Nah, I doan wanna.” A thin soup. consommé, adj. ‘Thin; as, Bring me un, NOWN. some consommée soup. soot, noun. A group; as a soot of rooms, a soot of furniture, ete. sekkaterry, noun. An assistant. godda, verb. Must; as, I godda go. chanst, noun. Opportunity. orphan, 1, ade. Frequently. 2, prep. Off of. “He orphan borrowed money or- phan his friends.” kump-tubble, adj. At ¢ apper-shay-shun, noun. mation, purd Good-looking, attractive. “O Maiden, capable and sturd I would that you were also purdy.” finely, adv. At last! as, Ile done it finely. holt, noun, A grip. tole, rerb. Past tense of “tell.” “T tole you to take a holt on this here. tempit-sher, noun. Degree of heat. hankit-shuf, noun. Nose cloth, adjoin, rerb. Postpone. adjourn, verb. Lie next to. “The Committee adjoined to the adjourning room.” se. True esti- ad preem-ear, noun. First performance. port-ear, nown, A curtain, yooda, 1. 2nd_ person, future-per- fect of “have.” » of 2nd person, past ten’ hav “Yooda did the same if yooda been he pres-pray-shun, noun. Sweat. pie-reer, noun. A gum dise stat-sher, noun. A marble figure. draw, noun, 1, Small sliding com- partment. 2. Plural. Nether un- dergarments. were in the dr 4 1, To limn; as, I'd like to drawer your pitcher. 2. To pull out; as, Me couldn't drawer out the drax modrun, adj. Up-to-date. mmy-choor, noun. A beginner. waddle, verb. Combination of “what” and “wil s, Waddle I se. do? rek-a-nize, verb. Perceive. inter-doos, verb. Make acquainted, » Meet the wife. -wine, adj. Authentic. n, noun. Title-holder. vas a jennywine champeen. rodge, noun. House bile: awstridge, noun. A bird. lik-kewer, noun. A drink made of fruit syrup. “He plied her with strong lik- hewer, But she stabbed him to death with a skewer.”—Ballad of Alaska Nell. WIL. Wright. jenn or automo- 18 THAT GIRL LETTING HER HAIR GRow?” “No, sith’s JUST NOT stor No it.” comicbooks.com