Life, 1928-03-08 · page 11 of 43
Life — March 8, 1928 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes 1920s-era American politics and social etiquette. **"The Properly Furnished Garage"** cartoon mocks wealthy motorists' excessive needs, listing absurd items like a "rumble-seat roaster" and "husband's personal car" as status symbols. **"Current Events for the Very Young"** explains political concepts (platforms, candidates, elections) to children using simple language. It references the Democratic and Republican parties' contrasting positions on issues like slavery, free trade, and tariffs—suggesting fundamental ideological differences that persist across generations. **"In Style"** jokes about social conformity, showing someone buying stock merely because friends do. **"It's a Gift"** presents brief comedic dialogues about absurd situations. The overall tone reflects Life magazine's signature blend of social commentary, political education, and gentle mockery of American pretensions during the 1920s.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Properly Furnished Garage What the Well-Motorized Gentleman Should Have This Season NE rumble-seat. roadster of studiedly careless design, that the daughter can hold her head up. One tourer without top, that the son will consider life worth living. One seven-passenger sedan (im- pressive) for e’s visits home. One coupé with reinforced fenders for wife's shopping. One relief coupé for wife to use when hers is in the shop. Onc trailer for summer antiquing. Good used machine for Sunday afternoon tinkering. Husband's personal car, built to stand a lot of borrowing. The servants’ coach. The emergency machine. McCready Huston. In Style INKS: Why did you buy stock in your friend's company? Bins: Oh, that was just a little good-will flier. Tuts New Enouette “Here's Mrs, Jones coming. I believe the dope for meeting a business friend’s wife on the street is in Volume Six.” Customer: Are you sure it’s an exclusive perfume? Sates Person: Oh, yes, madam. Only a very few persons can even pronounce it. Current Events for the Very Young N the summer the two big pol- it-i-cal parties will hold their con- ventions to nom-i-nate a can-di-date. These parties are the Dem-o-crat-ic and the Re-pub-li-can. The Demo- cratic and the Republican parties are The difference is quite different. more than a million votes except in “off-years.” An “off-year’’ is one in which both parties are a bit “off” and that is usually when they choose their can-di-dates. No, a candidate is not something to eat. A candidate is a man with principles. He does not know what his principles are, how- ever, until the plat-form has been chosen. A platform, dear kiddies, means something to stand on, and, in a po- litical sense (if any), something to stand for. The Democrats think they have stood for enough since the war to make the world safe for the Democrats. When one party has chosen its platform, then the opposite party does like-wise (laughter). The Democratic Party will come out flat- footed against white-slavery and hard times, and strongly in favor of free air, the starving Armenians and the full dinner pail. This will be a bid for the flat-footed vote. The Re- publicans will pro-nounce themselves un-e-quiv-o-cal-ly (that was a tough one, kiddies) in favor of the farmers, America first, and universal peace. Candidates are then drafted to their party’s cause. A candidate must be drafted, as it is quaintly called, because if a candidate ap- peared willing to run for pres-i-dent of his own free will, the impression might get abroad that he wanted the job. The campaign is then started. A campaign is a contest between two or more in-di-vid-u-als to see who can utter the greatest number of plat-i- tudes before election. The ra-di-o will be a big help in the present campaign. A candidate can be shut off at any given time. An election is held and the nation enters into an era of prosperity, if you are talking to one of the winning party, or into an era of graft and in- competence, if you are talking to a Democrat. Tracy Hammond Lewis. It’s a Gift OCTOR: Your boy is tongue- tied; a slight operation will cure him. Jones: No, let him alone; I want to make a radio announcer out of him. RCH-OPTIMIST: The fellow who tried to sell Lindbergh a conducted tour around the world. comicbooks.com