Life, 1928-03-22 · page 25 of 34
Life — March 22, 1928 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes mail-order house companies that sell prefabricated homes directly to consumers—a relatively new business practice at the time. The main cartoon sequence (left side) depicts the absurd incompetence of one such company through letters between a customer (Herbert Help) and "Montmorency, Wart Co." The jokes escalate: the customer orders a Tudor cottage, upgrades to a Fordore Mansion, but receives an entire village instead; his mansion gets lost in the mail while he's forced to live above a shop; when a temporary replacement arrives (the House of Seven Gables), it's damaged but he keeps it anyway and orders industrial buildings. The humor mocks both the reliability of mail-order businesses and the era's growing consumer culture. The cartoon illustration (right) shows angels, playing on the heavenly irony of "Home, Sweet Home." A separate brief comic strip at bottom ("Self-Defense") jokes about Boston stereotypes—baked beans, pie for breakfast, American Mercury readership—suggesting regional clichés people tire of hearing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Home, Sweet Home “A large mail-order company now sells houses direct to prospective home-mak- ers."—Items of Interest. Montmorency, Wart Co. ‘TLEMEN: I wish to change the order I sent you some days ago for a Tudor cottage. Since then I have been informed of an expected addition to our family circle, and as we shall now need more room, I wish to order the Fordore Mansion model it Yours very truly, Hersert Montmorency, Wart Co. GentLeMeN: Having ordered a Fordore Mansion from you recently, I was more than surprised this morn- ing when the postman delivered a package containing five dog houses, at r garage, a Scottish castle with battlements, a filling station and a small church, This is not what I ordered. Will you please investigate and see if there has not been some mistake? Yours very truly, Her- pert Hevp. Mr. Herbert Help, Esq. Desk Sm: Through an error in our shipping department, you re- ceived the entire village of Worst- He: I always have sympathy for the underdog, don't you? Sue: Ouch! I sure have. hurst, a new suburban development on the Hudson. We are extremely sorry that this occurred and are mail- ing your Fordore Mansion to-day. Yours very truly, Montmorency, Wart Co. Montmorency, Wart Co. GentLemen: The Fordore Man- sion that I ordered some time ago has not arrived, but twins have. Our landlord has put us out and we are now compelled to live over a Giffte Shoppe, where the noise and the smell of varnish are very trying to my wife. Will you please send our house at once? Anxiously yours, Hersert Herp. Mr. Herbert Help, Esq. Dear Sin: We have investigated the matter and find that your house has been lost in the mails. As we are, for the present, sold out on this model we are sending you for tem- porary use one of our modernized copies of the House of Seven Gables. When you receive your house, will you please wrap this one carefully and return to us? Yours very truly, Montmorency, Wart Co. Montmorency, Wart Co. GentLtemen: The House of Sev- en Gables received. With the exce tion of three gables broken off in transit, it was in good condition. We have soaked off all the stamps and consider it a very handsome dwell- ing, except for a few cancellation marks on the front door. I think we shall keep it in place of the Fordore Mansion previously ordered. I am sending with this letter an order for “Yeah, Gabriel's a nice fella but he's always blowin’ his own horn.” two factories and a storage ware- house, as I am going into the pop- corn-ball business. Please send me your catalogue of docks and railroad sidings. Yours very truly, Herpert Her. Heman Fay, Jr. Self-Defense es ELL, well! deah old Boston!” “Yes, I'm from Boston, No, I didn’t bring along my own supply of baked beans. Yes, I frequently have pie for breakfast. No, I don't pull down the blinds when I read the American Mercury at Yes, they still allow the Elsie Dinsmore books in the library. No, I don't think Upton Sinclair should be lynched. Yes, I don’t mind a cup of tea. No, I wouldn’t roll my eyes up- ward and sigh if you'd offer me a shot of something stronger. Well, show a little speed with that cork- screw; I haven't had a good drink since I left Boston.” C.J. So you're from home. comicbooks.com