Life, 1927-10-27 · page 12 of 36
Life — October 27, 1927 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top illustration satirizes 1890s bicycle culture, specifically the "scorchers"—reckless young cyclists who raced dangerously through city streets. The caption's absurd comparison to "demons" crashing through primeval swamps mocks the moral panic surrounding this new transportation technology and the youth who embraced it. The bottom section, "Impressions of a City Desk," is a satirical monologue by J.D. Ratcliff about newspaper office chaos—editors juggling sensational stories (murders, scandals, Atlantic liners), writers' demands, and competing publications. It ridicules the frenetic, ethically-loose nature of 1890s newspaper journalism, where sensationalism trumped accuracy and managing editors faced constant pressure for attention-grabbing content.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Gay Nineties EVER SINCE THE FIRST DEMON NEANDERTHAL CRASHED THROUGIL THE SWAMPS ON 1S RACING DINOSAURUS, SCATTERING THE CAVE-DWELLING THOSE OF THE NINETIES TOOK TIE FORM OF BOW- HANDLE-BARS AND WERE GENERATION HAS HAD ITS SPEED NUTS, BACKED CYCLISTS WITHE “RAM’S-110RN” PROMENADERS BACK INTO TITR OOZE, EVERY KNOWN As “scorciERs.” Impressions of a City Desk “(AUT this stuff, Mac—this wine, woman and song racket faded out of the picture when Dewey got that’s the stuff, jazz it up...some one get that phone... .copy!. ..here’s a darb—who wrote this .-Sounds like the Christian ence Monitor... use this—Woman Shoots Self as Love Try Fails... get a new late lead on this flapper flight for the final, get a love 4 i hell do people jump over to headquar- ters, one of you bright photographers, and get a smear of gunman Bill reading the Bible—get some tears and we'll make the front page out of that dumb bloke yet ..cut this thing down to four sticks—what do you think we are running, the Congressional Record?... copy!...Joe, send one of the editors of the Marvard Crimson down to get a blurb on that fire on Bleecker Street...sure, tell him about three sticks on it and that he will probably make the front pa, get that phone ...a murder in Jerse take it, Ed—nothing like a good Jersey murder y, those babies over there know how to put on a murder. ..copy! J.D. Ratcliff. 6 TATU comicbooks.com