Life, 1928-01-26 · page 6 of 34
Life — January 26, 1928 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains humorous short pieces and cartoons typical of 1920s Life magazine. The top cartoon shows a father and child on a freight car, captioned "Now let's see you blow squares, Poppa"—likely mocking adults who adopt childish behaviors or pretend expertise they lack. "Hollywood Pasttimes" satirizes screenwriter Robert Lord's explanation of how he invents movie stories through exaggeration and melodrama, poking fun at the formulaic nature of early cinema. "Anachronism" mocks historical inaccuracy in entertainment—a Queen Guinevere reference with King Arthur's jester using modern slang, highlighting the absurdity of mixing medieval settings with contemporary speech. The bottom cartoons contain domestic humor about marriages and family misunderstandings—standard comedy fare for the era, focusing on confusion between spouses rather than political commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Now let's see you blow squares, Poppa.” Hollywood Pastimes The Original Story “\Z7EH, I'm sure busy. I’m doin’ an original story. Boy, it’s a wow. It’s tremendous. Y’ever hear o’ this German writer, D. Moppas- sant? Aincha? Well, anyhow, he’s got a big name over in them foreign countries. I run across one o” his stories the other night that gimme a marvelous opening. It'll roll ‘em out into the aisles. Then I seen a picture the other night that gimme a pay-off finish, You know, a big physical punch, I'll have to change Paut: I'll bet 1 know what you're thinking about. Betty: Well. you don’t act like it. it a little. Instead of a snow storm, I'll make mine a flood. And, Moe, I got a middle that's a riot. I got it from a yarn I read in a magazine called Bedside Stories or somethin’ like that. An’ even if the story didn’t turn out so good, I got it all jazzed up with a lotta surefire gags. I got a flypaper routine that'll wow ‘em. I know they'll laugh at it be- cause they been usin’ it at Sennett’s since 1914. Yes, sir, Moe, this writ- in’ racket is sure sweet now. All the studios are payin’ plenty money for good original stories like mine.” Robert Lord. Anachronism “COME, my maidens fair,” called Queen Guinevere. “Let us deck ourselves with the gar- lands of youth while we may.” “Don’t kid yourselves, folks,” chortled King Ar- thur’s jester. ‘The his- torians have yuh down as Middle Age women, and yuh can’t get away from it.” HE first time a Scotch- man used the free air at the garage he blew out all four tires. Lines Written on the Side of a Freight Car “OFF to Frisco,” “Kid Malone,” “Butch O’Grady,” “San An- tone,” “Miss El Paso,” “I love Jane,” “Larry of Augusta, Maine.” “Don’t cry, girlies, we'll be back. The Schneider Boys of Hackensack.” “Bye-bye, Boston,” “Let ‘er go,” “Chicago Eddie,” “Memphis Joe.” “Kid Shapiro,” “I’m a sheik, On my way to Battle Creek.” “She's my baby,” “Go to hell,” And lots I’m too refined to tell. Phyllis Ryan. The Man with 1,000 Faces MOVIE star, noted for his wiz- ardry in makeup, was assigned to a society réle and gasped in dis- may when, in the big ballroom scene, he discovered himself facing the camera with a thick stubble of beard on his chin. He had carelessly wrong face. shaved the ESSICA: Sylvia borrowed twenty dollars from me to-day. Anoetica: Twenty dollars? I guess her fiancés are low. Ma: Daughter says she has nothing to wear to the dance to-night. Pa: What became of the beads I got her last week? come fact nove over that that seve cial lyric end Atte mat amp wit! sper lady comicbooks.com