Life, 1927-08-11 · page 20 of 36
Life — August 11, 1927 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three distinct pieces of humor: 1. **"Want-Ad Bait"**: A satirical boat-sale advertisement where Captain Bill Sykes admits his boat (the Sylph) leaks, smells terrible, and barely runs—but argues the real value to a buyer is acquiring the prestigious title "Captain." The joke mocks how people buy status symbols despite obvious defects. 2. **"The Battle of the Stenchery"**: A poem by Arthur M. Sherwood, Jr. mocking boxing journalism. It references Jack Sharkey and a championship belt, satirizing how thirty-six sports writers claim expertise watching a fight ("knowing everything") yet can't agree on basic facts—some say punches landed fair, others say low. The humor targets expert overconfidence and the absurdity of sports commentary. 3. **"A Day at the Beach"** and **"Chief Leading Eagle"**: Humorous photo captions about Junior ruining beach photos, and a joke about voting for Calvin Coolidge as a "humorist" rather than political conviction. The page reflects 1920s American humor: class anxiety, sports journalism skepticism, and casual political cynicism.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
UPs AND DOWNS OF FISHING Want-Ad Bait, or How to Sell a Boat IR SALE: The Sylph. Cireum- stances force me to part relue- tantly with my twenty-foot power boat, former pride of the bay. The Sylph, God bless her, leaks a little, smells awful, ks worse still, she’s my boat. The one-eylinder en- 4 gine starts sometimes in as little as twenty minutes. AIL in all she is not a prepossessing craft, but something intangible and of far greater valuc to the future owner than any amount of mere wood and metal is included in the purchase price. And that is the uncontested right of the new master of the Sylph to be known, henceforth and forever after, by the dignified and enhancing title of “Captain.” Capt. Bill Sykes. “UV AS your uncle in full posses- sion of his faculties at the enc “We don't know yet. The will is to be read this afternoon.” The Battle of the Stenchery T! IIRTY-SIX sport writers Sitting ‘round a ring, All full of fistic dope, Knowing everything. Thirty-six experts Watching every blow; Some said they landed fair And some said—low. Ever since the battle, Mother, Some of us have felt Jack Sharkey never can Wear the Champ's Belt. Where would they put it, On a guy like that When even experts can not tell Where his belt line’s at? Arthur M. Sherwood, Jr. A Day at the Beach In One Reel Featerine Jenion Seuntities ny Junior's Motiter SCENE 1. This was to have been 1 picture of Unele Frank divi off Unele Phil's shoulders. Junior stepped in front of the camera just as the shutter was snapped, and the Ilack and white bars you see are the mid-section of Junior's bathing suit. Scexr 2. Annie, May, Flora, Pearl and Grace. Junior's rubber ball hit the camera, making them look that way Scene 3. This picture would pass for that of a whale instead of one of Cousin Roscoe showing why he is able to float) so easily Junior dashed water on the lens. Scenes 4 anv 5, The gang cat- ing watermelon and the same gang playing leap-frog at the same time, Junior rewound the film while we weren't looking. Scene 6. Two strangers we never saw before. Junior insisted on taking their picture, and it’s the only one that turned out well Chief Leading Eagle “WELL T guess VIL vote for Cal. Coolidge next year.” “Why, I didn’t know you Republican.” “Tm not. I'm a humorist.” exe a comicbooks.com