Life, 1927-10-20 · page 18 of 48
Life — October 20, 1927 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon depicts well-dressed young men and women in 1890s attire engaged in what the caption describes as a common prank: throwing a "bean bag" to unsuspecting people. The humor relies on the contrast between the refined appearance of these wealthy young people and their juvenile behavior—pretending to throw something at poor girls to fool them, then laughing at their reactions. The satire mocks the "Gay Nineties" era's upper-class youth culture, suggesting that despite their sophistication, these privileged young people amused themselves through mean-spirited tricks targeting vulnerable working-class women. It's social commentary on class divisions and youthful cruelty dressed up in fashionable clothing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Gay Nineties SHRIEKS OF LAUGHTER FROM A BACK YARD IN THE NINETIES USUALLY SIGNIFIED THAT A WHITE-HOT GAME OF BEAN BAG WAS MEAN OLD THINGS ) TO POOL THE N proanress. AND, OH, HOW THE BoYS—THE OOR GIRLS BY PRETENDING TO THROW TO SOME. ONE AND SUDDENLY BACK-PLIP IT TO SOME ONE ELSE W'LO DIDN'T EXPECT IT. Economical T looks as if the Burcau of Printing and Engraving were going to save the United States annually. Acting on the twofold theory that a little strip of paper doesn’t wear out in one’s pocket as quickly as a big strip and that it takes less paper to print a small dollar bill than a large one, the Bureau will begin on November 1 to issue dollar bills measuring 614 inches { inches, ‘The present dimensions, as every school- . Scotch extraction knows, are 7.7 by So you see, the Bu paper. inches. 1 is going to save quite a lot of What use will be made of the saved paper we don’t know. Perhaps it will be turned over to the printer of the Congressional Record, so that certain Con- gressmen may explain in special pamphlets how the new currency will save the United States $2,000,000 annu- ally. Tupper Greenwald. He Has Spoken AID Charles E. Hughes to Andrew Mellon: “Who're you for—or ain't you tellin’ ?” d Andrew “Mellon to Charles E. Hughes: ‘Oh, I'm for you, since Cal don’t choose.” comicbooks.com