Life, 1928-01-12 · page 9 of 39
Life — January 12, 1928 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon depicts two angels on a cloud, with one blowing a trumpet while the other sits nearby looking frustrated. The caption reads: "Angel Gabriel (peevishly): 'I've been blowing my horn for an hour and nobody has paid any attention to it. What's the matter down there on earth?'" **The satire:** This jokes about modern indifference to traditional religious authority and spiritual warnings. Gabriel's failure to get humanity's attention despite the iconic trumpet blast of the Last Judgment suggests that early 20th-century society has become so distracted or irreverent that even apocalyptic religious signaling cannot command attention. The angel's peevish tone emphasizes the absurdity—even divine judgment struggles against worldly indifference.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Ballade of Highway Etiquette RUTES who butcher their crippled wives, Yeggs who park on your window sill; Thugs who gamble with human lives, Blackmail bugs with their poisoned quill— These, the wrecks of a weakened will, We brand humanity's parasites, Yet who's the bitterest social pill? The fiend who refuses to dim his lights! Dentists overly fond of chives, Playwrights penning _ salacious swill; The cardroom kibitzer who derives From your mistakes a perverted thrill— ‘These, though moron mill, Raise no fears on the darkest nights, But this bird hands me an cerie chill: fiend who refuses to dim his lights. fresh from the The ‘er some precipice, bridge or hill! These the curses I'll breathe until I'm planted deep where the earth- worm bite: And if they fail? Tul kill fiend who refuses to dim his lights. Very good— L’Envor Editor, gi a chance to spill This my song of a driver's rights— Fry this egg on the public grill: The fiend who refuses to dim his lights. N. D. Plume. Ultra-Modern INT: How is it I see George Davis and his former wife together so much lately? I thought they were separated. Fut: Theirs is a com- panionate divorce. The Day of Judgment Ancet Gapriet (peevishly): I've been blowing my horn for an hour and nobody has paid any attention to it. What's the matter down there on earth? Ancet MicnakL: Don't you know, you poor sap—they’ve started deliveries on the new Ford! A Tactful Rejection AR Cutupert: D E, know you felt that w: suppose that’s life, isn’t it? bert, you know I'm terribly fond of you but I've never thought of you in that way and I never dreamed I got your letter and I don't what to s: I never knew about me but I Cuth- you cared for me in that way. Gosh, everything is so involved, isn’t it? Perhaps you hadn't better sce me any more, or what do you think? I adore seeing you and you're « so sweet about sending flowers. I am wearing the orchids which came with your note and it was ter sweet of you to send them. letter seems so inadequate but I am in the most hectic rush trying to get ready for a party. How I wish I were going to see you. told me you'd shaved your mous- tache and I'm terribly glad. It made you look so fero- cious!!! Do come to see me soon unless you feel it would be better not to see me but I hope you don’t feel that way and can understand how I feel—I've got to dash Hastily, Roseaarir. Lloyd Mayer. Some one HANKS to Prohibition, a fool and his honey are “Oh, Myrtle, what a wow of a radiator cap!” soon “potted.” comicbooks.com