Life, 1927-12-01 · page 54 of 80
Life — December 1, 1927 — page 54: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Christmas-themed page from *Life* magazine satirizes the commercialized burden of holiday gift-giving. The main illustration shows a woman displaying linens or fabrics, with the caption "Wouldn't you know I'd get something I simply had to have anyway?" — mocking how gift-givers inevitably purchase items the recipient already owns or doesn't need. The "Ballade of the Christmas Spirit" poem by Baron Ireland humorously catalogs the speaker's annual dilemma: endless gift-giving demands from family, staff (iceman, janitor, newsboy), and acquaintances, despite yearly vows to stop. He laments his shrinking bankroll while creditors circle. Secondary pieces include "Cause and Result" (tools + frustration = a fallen Christmas tree) and "Literally!" — a shoplifter joke playing on holiday shopping frenzy. The satire targets American consumerism, the obligation-driven holidays, and the gap between gift-givers' good intentions and exhausting financial reality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
} 3 ton ae eereeirs Sa os es SEI IRN FAs }3 ss ev, oS LEASE pitti, «abe Sor SS Rose aoe YP z ssaavee Christmas’ C= LiEG ~o number zee, - Ballade of theChristmas {f! Des P ; 19 Spirit "VE had reminders of late I Christmas is pretty near due. | Hints from my better half, Kate, Touching on scarfs and Aunt Ss Iceman and janitor, too, Must be remembered, it's clear. Newsboy and refuse man— whew! What shall I give them this year? Our old sedan’s out-of-date! Gee! have I looked at the new Blutz, father? Gee! she’s some Gee! Painted robin’s-egg blue ! Thus the suggestions, not few, Fall on my overstrained ear. I'm in my annual stew. What shali I give them this year? Lord! every twelvemonth I state Presents are strictly taboo. Giving I'm giving the gate. | Booning I henceforth eschew. Useless! my hullabaloo No one seems ever to hear. Well do they know I'll come 4 through! iS What shall I give them this 3% year? ‘6 L'ENvot ‘ \ Bankroll, I'm sorry for you. Zingo! You'll just disappear, As for my creditor crew, What shall I give them this | year? Baron Ireland. es Cause and Result N ax, a hammer, a saw, : DX screwdriver, seven or eight boards, fifteen or twenty ten- penny nails, half a dozen screws, a sore thumb, several cuss words, a cut finger, much profanity, a scarred — floor, threats from the landlord, sug- gestions from the wife, wise- cracks from the children. And still the Christmas tree persists in toppling over. e | ¢ eZ, Literally! 7 | QYIRST SHOPLIFTER: Ex- pect to be busy during the DOE yee ee PRE a Ss ee Y;} A) holidays? nf “Wouldn't you know I'd get something I simply had to have anyway!” Srconp Dito: Oh, yes; I'll have my hands full! { | — Poses comicbooks.com