Life — September 29, 1927 — page 24: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page presents Life's "Alibi Contest," a humor feature inviting readers to submit creative excuses for common social predicaments. The cartoon (Alibi #42) illustrates a typical scenario: a college freshman caught sneaking back into his dormitory by his stern father, who has unexpectedly arrived. The joke relies on the boy's transparent excuse ("it's this way..."), implying he's fabricating a story to explain his absence or late return. The satire mocks the universal gap between parental expectations and student behavior—fathers demanding explanations, sons scrambling for believable lies. The contest format encouraged readers to submit their own humorous alibis for everyday embarrassments, reflecting 1920s-30s middle-class anxieties about propriety, parental authority, and youthful deception.