Life, 1927-11-10 · page 35 of 44
Life — November 10, 1927 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct sections: **Left side—"Alibi Contest Prize Winners":** Life magazine ran a humor contest asking readers to submit creative excuses (alibis) for inflated business expense accounts. The winning entry shows a salesman justifying a $500 expense for a two-day trip by claiming "the whole town had fun at my expense"—a pun suggesting he treated everyone to drinks/entertainment rather than actually working. The joke satirizes corporate expense-account padding, a common practice where salesmen would submit fraudulent business expenses. The other winning alibis play on similar themes of workers padding their claims. The small cartoon at bottom ("Judicial Notice") is a separate joke about domestic violence, which Life treated as comedic subject matter—reflecting attitudes we'd now find deeply inappropriate. **Right side:** A large advertisement for Romance Chocolates, emphasizing that one dollar is the ideal price point for quality chocolate assortments. The page reflects 1920s-30s business culture and satirical humor standards of that era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ALIBI CONTEST PRIZE WINNERS ALIBI NUMBER FORTY-THREE Treasurer: Wat's THE IDEA OF A FIVE-HUNDRED-DOLLAR EXPENSE AC- COUNT FOR A TWO-DAY TRIP TO 1lOME- BURG? Salesman: WrtL, you see, it’s tuts way...The whole town had fun at my expense. This Alibi, which wins the first prize of $50.00, was submitted by Mrs. Ciartes W. Scuick, 811 North 4th Street, Millville, New Jersey. Five second prizes of $10.00 each have been awarded to the following contestants: Lyxn Z. Hitt, Erie, Pennsyl- vania, for the Alibi: “High-pressure salesmen need lots of steam.” Rar Lassiter, El Paso, Texas, tor the Alibi: “The sales manager said ta put the soft pedal on the expense account, so I padded it.” Joys Pier Mons, Jn. East Orange, New Jersey, for the Alibi: “When I started that trip you said, | ‘Now, young man, give a good ac count of yourself,’ and there it is.” Cecita O'Brien, Devil's Lake, North Dakota, for the Alibi: “A padded expense account is the only soft part of my job.” Artuvr W. Winter, } York City, for the Alibi: “The sales man- ager told me to include all running expenses, and I was down at the race track.” Judicial Notice et E claims his wife was intrac- table, Your Honor, so he beat her into subjection with a golf club.” “In how many strokes?" asked the Judge with some interest. If you would like com- plete news of the winner of the second annual Romance-Hol- lywood Contest. closed June Ist for Contest A will be sent free on request Real cocosnuts are freshly opened and ther contents cooked with molasses (0 make this chewy dainry sweetness of a golden dare from far away Orange Daincest of ral fruit Colonial Pepps creams, full of golden Areal old-fashioned bits of orange 1s just the right price to pay/ ONEST and delicious chocolates demand a definite variety of highest grade ma- terials per pound. Less than a dollar must cheapen the assortment . . . and the quality. More than a dollar should add more than fancy trimmings to the box. ROMANCE SELECTIONS at $1—per pound (except at distant points) offer a very excep- tional variety of centers — more than twenty kinds —and each piece is as delicious as the finest ingredients can make it. If your dealer doesn't carry them, we will gladly send a box, postpaid, for $1.00. COX CONFECTIONERY COMPANY * ‘9 ig Ween, Boston 28, Massachusetts roy nc ric, A whole solid nur