Life, 1928-03-15 · page 24 of 34
Life — March 15, 1928 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes office gossip and workplace hypocrisy. Two men—Bill and Joe—discuss their coworker Mike's recent promotion to vice-president, concluding he'll fail because he can't keep quiet. However, the satire's irony is the entire conversation itself: these two gossips spread unverified rumors about Mike's alleged affairs with "redheaded stenos" and blonde office girls, and even suggest tipping off the boss to investigate his accounts—all while congratulating themselves for discretion and "keeping their mouth shut." The joke exposes how office workers rationalize spreading damaging gossip as protective concern while denying their own participation in rumor-mongering. The bottom sections contain unrelated light humor about circular logic and marital domesticity, typical of *Life* magazine's satirical style.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
22 Life A Fellow Can’t Do That “QURE is great about ol’ Mike being a vice-president!” “You said it, Bill. Ol’ Mike cer- tainly had it coming to him!” “He’s a white man, Joe. And he'll make good, too, if he learns to keep his mouth shut.” “Now you're talking, Bill. A guy can’t tell everything he knows and hold down a vice-presidency.” “And that's going to make it rough going for ol’ Mike. He can’t keep anything under his hat!” “Yeah, and worse than that, Bill: Mike has a funny habit of hearing something and then blabbing it around before he finds out if it’s true or not!” “He's the worst he-gossip I ever saw. And a fellow can’t get by with that, Joe. fellow’s got to keep his eyes and cars and especially his mouth shut to some things these days.” Vouldn’t surprise me if that's the way he got promoted: by running in to the old man with every bit of gossip he heard!” “Me either, Joc. Mike is just the kind of guy that would do it. While you and me might hear something about somebody and keep our traps shut, Mike would toddle around and spill it right and left! I understand that's why he got let out at the last place!” ay “The audience seems to like me.” “Don't be absurd. They're just cheering your dressmaker.” “Was it? I heard it was because his accounts were off some way. I didn’t get the straight of it, but the dope that went around was that there was something funny!” “I don’t know about it. I never did like the way his eyes was set together. And when a fellow gets to chasing around with redheaded stenos.... s he stepping out with that red- head? Oh, I don’t know if it's anything serious, Joe. But I overheard some- body say they saw ‘em both getting on the same street car the other night. Figure it out to suit yourself.” “What do you know about that!... Hmmmmm!...And did you see the little blonde girl when she came out of his office yesterday? Looked like she'd been cr ! “The old Turk! Got a regular harem, ch? It takes more money an ol’ Mike is dragging down on ary to finance a lot of stepping out. Somebody ought to tip off the old man it might not be a bad idea to check up Mike’s accounts.” “That's what I told the old man’s secretary this morning, Bill! But of course I didn’t tell her any of this talk that’s going around, only enough so she could give the old man an idea, so he could protect himself. Let the old man find it out himself!” “That's the idea, Joe. A fellow don’t get anywhere passing along everything he hears.” “You said it, Bill. That's why I always keep my mouth shut!” “You and me both, Joe. We got troubles enough of our own without worrying about some other guy's!” Chet Johnson. In and Out MIE was all in last night. She was all in from being out. If she hadn't been out, she wouldn't have been in, but she sure was out when she got in. All in from being out. She was out for the rest of the night. She sliould have stayed in; then she wouldn’t- have been all in, and she wouldn't have been out from being all in because she out in- stead of staying in. Sallie is never all in. The fact that she’s always in and never out keeps her from being out and all in, Frank Romano. LicutHouse Keerer’s Wire: John, T left my vanity case down in the boat. Would you mind just trotting down to get it? comicbooks.com