Life, 1928-02-09 · page 15 of 35
Life — February 9, 1928 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three distinct pieces of humor content: 1. **"February" poem** by Catherine Parmenter: A satirical verse addressing the "Czar of the North," likely Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, mocking his military ambitions and winter hardships. The "bard's prophetic utterance" about Spring following Winter contains political commentary on Russian imperial overreach. 2. **"Egg Coal, Obviously"**: A brief dialogue joke about hens laying coal instead of eggs—a nonsensical pun playing on wartime resource scarcity or inflation concerns. 3. **"Mrs. Pep's Diary"** and **"Read 'Em and Beef"**: Satirical commentary on inflation and financial instability. Mrs. Pep discusses accounting discrepancies and depreciated assets, while the cartoon shows economic confusion. The accompanying office scene depicts workplace interactions about wages and employment. The overall theme addresses early 20th-century economic anxieties and international tensions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
February Czar of the North, lift up your mighty song! The thunder of your legions sounds anew And sweeps from out the realm of arctic blue Where Winter's ruthless regiments belong. Impcrious tyrant of a conquered land, You show no mercy for the servitude Of this poor world your armies have subdued. But ah, the scepter quivers in your hand! And though you bluster on, half- mad, half-blind, Above the clamor of your frenzied dance I hear the bard's prophetic utter- ance, “If Winter coi behind?”. . Czar of the North, behold her mes- senger: The pussywillows’ softly ruffled fur! Catherine Parmenter, es, can Spring be far Egg Coal, Obviously may J HAT the dickens are you do- ing down there in the cellar?” demanded the rooster. “If it’s any of your business,” re- plied the hen frigidly, “I’m laying in a supply of coal.” Reap 'Em anp Beep “Now here, sire, is a suit of our best armor. It'll wear like iron and I'll guarantee that the seat won't get shiny.” Ns Reps Diaryn All the morning gone in January casting up my accounts, 18th finding the figures of my bank still differing from my own to the extent of cighty-some dollars in my favor, for which I do thank God, albeit it inclines me to occasional extravagances on the principle that I really have more money than I do give myself credit for. To Ida Guthrie's, and she told me that she had to send off the Sealyham which Biff Wilson gave her be- cause the creature bayed so steadily at one of her husband's family portraits that Ned accused her of training it, and then we fell a-talking. of pedigrees and such, and Ida said she would gladly trade in from her record two or three of the old boys who were at the Field of the Cloth of Gold or had a hand in the doings around Thomas a Becket for one sturdy grandparent who had had the wits to think up lemonade straws or get in on the ground floor with Pullman or Rockefel- ler, and I did agree that I should not at all mind being put in my own classification of “the sort of people who buy their silver,” because, when you get right down to it, what exquisite Georgian stuff is now on the market for those who can afford to purchase it! The real tragedy lying, of course, in the fact that the most potential cheque-writers think in terms of three-pronged forks and a Tiffany trade mark. Ida did show me through her new apartment, pointing out how her bedroom was excessively dark- ened by an (Please turn to page 31) How about dinner and a show to-night? Secretary: Do I get time and a half? comicbooks.com