Life, 1927-11-24 · page 12 of 44
Life — November 24, 1927 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct pieces. The top illustration is a suggestive cartoon captioned with a crude joke about tattoos and anatomy. The main story, "Polite Transportation," mocks a Chinese immigrant named Lung Foh Lung who arrives at Joshua Howell's (President of the Polite Transportation Motor Bus Company) office. The narrative satirizes both the immigrant's broken English and American economic pretension. Howell offers Lung money to design bus seats, calling this "polite" capitalism. The lower cartoon depicts their meeting, with a guest making a pun about "Navajo bugs" versus travel abroad—mocking both Native American terminology and immigrant unfamiliarity with American culture. The satire targets early 20th-century American attitudes: patronizing treatment of Asian immigrants, capitalist exploitation disguised as generosity, and casual ethnic humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Tattooed Gentleman: 1 TeLL You THAT AIN'T A CAT; IT'S A LION. RAGEDY, gaunt, cruel tragedy, stalks often in the wake of ad- g civilization. Consider the sad tale of Lung Foh Lung, a man of ancient lineage, who was hurled ruth- lessly from the position which his revered had maintained for untold generations in China before the uplifters raised that country out of sin and savagery. Bro heartsick, discourage Lung Foh Lung came to America. Tottering on the verge of starvation, honored ancestors he arrived one day at the door of | O. Joshua Howruff, President of the Polite ‘Transportation Motor Bus Company. Howruff greeted his guest in his best pidgin English. Host: Titts 18 THR NAVAJO RUG WE GOT ON OUR TRIP THIS YEAR. Guest: \ NAVAJO RUG! Polite Transportation asked. been the foremost torture experts of the world. Among the devices we have invented are the thumbscrew, the rack, boiling in oil, crossword puzzles, the Charleston, “"Smatter you, “No catchee jobee? Sir,” answered Lung Foh Lung, “you see before you a man of noble birth, reduced to these dire straits by the exigencies of fortune and the activities of the missionaries. For countless centuries my people have John?” he But O. Joshua Howruff had 1 from ped the his chair and embraced has sent ou one hundred thousand dollars a year to design seats for my motor buses.” Asia Kagowan. » into a “Yes; the one we're in now is too small. Our son has decided he wants to learn ta play a slide trombone.” How quaint! nvT 1 DIDN'T KNOW You'd BREN ABROAD, comicbooks.com