Life, 1927-09-01 · page 24 of 40
Life — September 1, 1927 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page showcases Life's ongoing "Alibi Contest"—a humor feature where readers submit witty excuses for awkward situations. The winning alibis are published with cartoon illustrations. **The featured cartoon (Alibi #38)** depicts a husband caught red-handed cleaning golf clubs despite having sworn off the sport last Saturday. His wife confronts him; he begins stammering an explanation ("Well, you see, it's this way..."). The joke satirizes the gap between what people *claim* to do and what they actually do—here, a man's inability to genuinely quit golf despite announcing he'd abandoned it forever. **The contest mechanics**: Readers submit creative excuses for embarrassing situations. Winners receive prize money ($50 first prize; $10 for five runners-up). The page lists previous winners' alibis, mostly about domestic situations—keeping girls "in the dark," fooling neighbors, defining names in darkness. The satire targets human nature: our tendency to make grand declarations we can't keep, and our creativity in constructing believable lies when caught.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life PRIZE WINNERS ALIBI NUMBER THIRTY THREE Father: wuat? sitting eRe WITIL ALL THE LIGHTS TURNED ovT? i'M SURPRISED, Daugh RUT, DADDY, DEAR—you see, it’s THs way... We thought it would protect us against mosqui- toes —even if it didn't keep out other pests. This Alibi, which wins the first prize of $50.00, was submitted by Ean G. Menxer, 114 Mt. Pleasant Ave., Roxbury, Mass. Five second prizes of $10.00 each have been awarded to the following: Jack Emerson, Los Angeles, Calif., for the Alibi: “Every. time that horrid Jones girl across the street sces that I have company, she comes right over! So we just fooled her this time.” S. Freeman, Brooklyn, N. Y., for the Alibi: “Oscar's intentions are al- ways honorable, but he has a way of keeping girls in the dark.” Mrs. Jesse D. Hiner, Grand Rapids, Mich., for the — Alibi: “Archie said it was clearly a matter of ‘waste,’ so he turned the light out as he knows his way around.” Micnuaen J, Sonnencerrer, Bal- timore, Md., for the Alibi: “We were defining names. George means hus- bandman, Harold mean champion, but Henry here means business; leave us in darkness, please.” Wn. M. Witey, Santa Monica, Calif., for the Alibi hat’s too petty a thing to talk about.” ALIBI CONTEST Conditions of the Contest on page 32 $100.00 Weekly in Prizes OLFERS, golf-widows, __golf- orphans—in short, everybody —will be interested Alibi. Immediately below, you will ob- serve the portrait of a golfer who quit the game forever, only last Sat- urday. He even announced, at the time, that he had thrown away his clubs. And yet her them with tender care. Furthermore, his clothes and the gleam in his eye, would seem to indicate that he in- tends to use these clubs in the near future. Your big opportunity to win some of the prize money is to help this embarrassed golfer furnish an Alibi, or excuse, which will account for his strange interest in a game that he had given up in disgust. in this week's he is, cleaning Be sure to read all the conditions carefully. You will find them on 32 of this issue. Any contest ants who fail to obey the simple rules set forth in’ these conditions are instantly disqualified by — the Judges. The prizes are as follows: First Prize, $50.00 Five Second Prizes of $10.00 each Next week we will announce the winners of ALIBI NUMBER THIRTY-FOUR. We will also publish a new picture, ALIBI NUM- BER THIRTY-NINE, with a new set of prizes offered. We repeat: Read the (on page 32) carefully! conditions ALIBI NUMBER THIRTY-EIGHT IN DISGUST AND THROWN CLEANING EEA - She: you TOLD ME LAST SATURDAY THAT You'd GIVEN UP GOLF AWAY Yo THEM UP ARE YOU R CLUBS. Now? why He: Wein, You ske, 17's THIS WAY... comicbooks.com'