Life, 1927-10-27 · page 23 of 36
Life — October 27, 1927 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three distinct humor pieces typical of 1920s satirical magazines: **"The Wrong Steer"** (top left): A detective story parody where a "Great Detective" deduces that a client's missing items (cane, shirts, ties, fur coat, roadster) were stolen by the client's son—yet the client claims to have no son. The joke is the detective's absurd logic reaching the wrong conclusion. **"Spoiled His Fun"** (bottom left): A brief joke about a man named Otis who dislikes kissing because he was decorated by a French general—likely referencing WWI medal ceremonies or military honors, the humor deriving from an unexpected explanation. **Untitled monologue** (right): A woman's breathless account of meeting an interesting dinner guest. The satire targets affected upper-class speech patterns (exaggerated emphasis, affected pronunciation) and vapid socialite discourse—she's impressed by commonplace observations presented pretentiously. The piece mocks both the speaker's shallow values and her mannered affectations. All three pieces employ wordplay and social observation typical of *Life* magazine's humor during the Jazz Age era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Wrong Steer “LJ'M,” mused the Great Detective, “you say you have missed several things from your wardrobe lately? Well, let me see. When did they begin to disappear?” “T first missed my cane on the nineteenth of No: vember. a “Aha! Proceed.” “Then three laundered stiff shirts vanished from my bureau. I didn't mind that so much, nor did I object ta the loss of several new ties, but things began to look seri ous when I couldn't find my fur coat.” “Just as I thought,” chuckled the Great De- tective, “just as I thought. Anything else?” “Yes,” replied the cli- ent; “one more little thing. My roadster dis- appeared from the ga- rage two nights ago. “Conclusive exclaimed the — master. “Absolutely conclusive !” 4 And then he smiled a sly j smile. “How is your son I getting along at college?” \{\ he 1 * queried the householder. “I haven't Ny Spoiled His Fun got a son.” \ Frances: poN’T YOU REALLY “Good God, man!" ex- CARE FOR Kissin? claimed the Great De- Otis: Nov since 1 was DECO- — tective. “You've been RATED BY A FRENCH GEN- — robbed!” ERAL. Parke Cummings. aceon: a Life “M? dear, I met the MOST deLIGHT ful man at “ DINner the other night—really 1 don't know WHEN I've been so THORoughly inTRIGUED with any one because I mean he was SIMply FAScit you know the type! Well, ANYways, what sort of apPEALED to me about hin was the TERribly sort of INt'resting things he SAID. [mean I simply LOATHE sitting next to some POIsonous little PIP squeak who docs NOTHing but try to FLIRT desp’rately with you and keeps saying just SILly sort of THINGS all the entire time, do you know what I mean? But THIS man was awfully sort of DIF'rent than the USual type of men you MEET because he TALKED the most b'YUtiful ENGlish and I mean I simply aDORED to LISten to him because everything he SAID was so sort of poETic and all. And, my dear, he was HONestly the most oRIGinal man I've ever MET because he kept making all these terribly oRIGi- nal sort of reMARKS. F'r instance he said that a b'YUtiful GIRL always reminded him of a FLOWer or something, which is a terribly pretty THOUGHT, don't you really think it IS, my dear? And I mean it is something that not EVerybedy would THINK of, do you really think it IS? “Well, ANYways, I was SIMply FAScinated because he said the flower that / reminded him of was a PANsy because the PANsy was the flower that combined — the QUALities of seRENity. b’YUty ind MODesty in the MOST har. MOnious acCORD or something— can you BEAR it, my dear? But I mean I HONestly think it was AW fully sort of CLEVer of him to sort of THINK that OUT and IT mean I REALIy think it is a TERribly exCITing iDEA to have somebody awfully inTELligent like that call you a PANsy—I mean I ACtually bo!" Lloyd Mayer. Variety H® (in a Palm Beach hoi What do for do you amuse- ment here The Lady: yes—ue’s CUTE, ALL RIGHT. BUT HAVEN'T YOU GOT THE SAME Sue: We read the weather reports MODEL ON A SHORTER WHEELBASE? for the rest of the country. comicbooks.com