Life, 1927-11-17 · page 29 of 48
Life — November 17, 1927 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces typical of 1920s-era Life magazine humor: **"In One Easy Lesson"** mocks social climbing through language. A man impresses his boss by speaking French over the telephone, instantly securing a Paris buyer job. The joke: superficial competence—mere accent and a few phrases—replaces actual qualification. **"When Pressures Meet"** is a brief dialogue joke about salesmen's desperation. One sold sardines to a man with four daughters (financial burden), the other to someone in deeper debt. The dark humor centers on economic hardship during the era. **"Must Between Us Girls"** satirizes women's gossip culture through exaggerated capitalization emphasizing breathless, affected speech patterns. A woman gushes about an "unattractive" but industrious girl who "made her own way"—praising her while simultaneously insulting her appearance and family, revealing hypocrisy in female social commentary. The bottom cartoon depicts sardine factory workers packed dangerously tight, captioned as industry "behind the scenes," with a dark joke about a shooting victim's laundry-ruined bulletproof vest.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life 27 In One Easy Lesson NUST EEIWEEN US GIDL® | THE grim Mr. Bliftkins sat amazed as I broke easu- [JUST BEN A OS ally into French over the telephone. aret, table d'hote, filet at, mignon. Oui? Embrasse 7 moi bon soir? Au revoir. ) When I put down the _ y telephone = Mr. Bliffkins — gazed at me curiously. “That v job as Paris buyer is yours ‘ : 4 S he stated in his curt, un- 2 § P é 4 emotional manner. “I don't / ( e ° understand a word of French i= a Go’ 2 _ f and any one that can speak - fil | it as fluently as you cer “PT ADMIRE her TERribly, my dear—I ACtually DO! { | tainly commands ‘my ad- I mean I think it's SIMply MARvelous how she’s [ -| miration.” sort of got right OUT and made her own WAY and all, I sighed with relief when don’t you REALIy think it IS? And 'SPECially when realized that my big you THINK how unatTRACtive she is, my dear! 1 When Pressures Meet chance had come and found —inean she's HOMEly as a mud FENCE and no MAN First Salesman: 1 aust me ready w 1 must give would ever LOOK at her so it would have been AW fully CALLED ON ABIE GOLDMAN. — credit where it is due. Lowe — sort of foolish of her to just sit HEAVily waiting to get Second Salesman: wuar it all to the Legion Conven- \fARried. I REALIy think it's TERribly sort. of pip We SELL you? tion IID) paTHETic because I think she FEELS it, sort of. I — mean she's the sort of sentiMENtal TYPE that is HEY say | going in the hole trying to pro- simply DYing for a littlhe LOVE and afFECtion! Of vide for fa rls.” COURSE, she made a perfect FOOL of herself over “Yes—he calls them his debtutante daughters.” Bobbie DESmond. I mean he just sort of led her ON _ _ _ sort of, and I mean simply EV'rybedy was een _ TALKing about what a FOOL she made of / _ mt ai Borel herself. HONestly, my dear, I think it was ( coe oe ee really TOO paTHETic. But, ANYways, Jats THE MATTER: | it’s SIMply MARvelous what she’s DONT { wires YOu SARDINES. Because when you THINK of all she's had - to live DOWN, sort of—that rePELIent FAM'ly—you know her FAther never had a CENT and that odd BROTHer, my dear, is 1 HALF-wit or something—can you BEAR it? ACtually, my dear, I think it’s SIMply SPLENdid what she's MADE. of herself when you think of all she’s gone THROUGH, | sort of. But I HONestly don’t think suc- | cess MEANS anything to her, do you rea think it DOES, my dear? I mean she | AW fully sort of unHAPpy and all, do you know what T mean? But ANYways, my dear, I think it's SIMply MARvelous how she's sort of got right OUT and made her own WAY, sort of, and I adMIRE her TER ribly, my dear—I mean T ACtually DO!" . Lloyd Mayer. Almost Fatal | “TWAS shot in the chest while in Chica | “But I thought you always wore a bullet | proof vest.” IN A Saeoiwe FACTORY ~ THE SARDINES ARE “T do, but the one I had on had been to a PACKED IN THE REARS END OF THE CANS AND laundry.” | URGED FORMRD BY PHONOGRAMS AND GUARDS [ya ARRIAGE is a very ancient institution. aan aS IVE Practically all our knowledge of old | Behind the Scenes fs a Great Industry Assyria is gleaned from shattered pottery. comicbooks.com