Life, 1927-12-01 · page 63 of 80
Life — December 1, 1927 — page 63: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate satirical comic strips about Christmas gift-giving and Santa Claus traditions. The top panel mocks the awkwardness of re-gifting: Clara is caught returning to a gift shop the very vase that her friend Cora gave her last Christmas, attempting to buy a matching piece as cover for the embarrassing fact she's regifting it. The bottom left strip jokes about urban Christmas logistics: a "hard-boiled cop" encounters someone dressed as Santa Claus and orders him into a sleigh, commenting that their apartment building lacks a chimney—suggesting Santa's traditional method won't work in modern city living. The bottom right strip satirizes modern technology replacing tradition: children discuss how Santa will deliver presents without a chimney, with one confidently asserting "He'll come through the loud speaker, of course"—a joke about radios becoming ubiquitous household technology in this era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
< geese Christmas om GHEE So tumber? ~} iff 5 In the Gift Shoppe CORA: Isn't that the vase I gave you last Christmas ? CLARA (feebly): Why, yes, my dear—and what a coincidence! I brought it here to—to match it—so that I can have a pair. if ae JACK: I don't see how Santa Claus is going to get “| HARD-BOILED Cop: Come on now, Santa Claus—hop into our apartment. We haven't got a chimney. into yer sleigh and get moving. BILL (impressively); Don't be silly. He'll come through the loud speaker, of course. comicbooks.com