Life, 1928-03-22 · page 8 of 34
Life — March 22, 1928 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate pieces of satire from *Life* magazine: 1. **"The Automat"** (poem): Celebrates vending machines dispensing food—a novelty technology that delighted early 20th-century urban diners by automating food service. 2. **"Time to Plant Your Garden"** (essay by Norman R. Jaffray): Earnest advice encouraging gardening as a hobby, emphasizing spring planting and the satisfaction of growing things. 3. **"A Tight Fix"** (bottom cartoon): Shows a man complaining about unemployment while discussing Mayor Thompson and "King's English"—satirizing someone who speaks pretentiously despite economic hardship. The joke mocks the gap between affected language and actual poverty. The main cartoon (top) depicts a formal dinner scene with the caption mocking Mr. Smith as "old-fashioned" and useless to "flappers"—referencing 1920s youth culture and generational tensions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Sue: I hear you're very, very old-fashioned in your tastes, Mr. Smith—and so I’m afraid you have absolutely no use for us flappers. Time to Plant Your Garden VERY man should have a hobby. If he can’t afford golf, or cricket, or steeplechasing, he can always keep a garden. And a man who keeps a garden is a man you can trust; you can trust him with prac- anything but your lawn- in March, when Mother Earth's rich bosom begins to feel the soft touch of the spring sunshine. Get out your rake and hoe and dig deep in that fertile soil; sprinkle the seeds which you ordered from the cata- logue; take a long chance and set up little mark “Convolvulus,” “N. turtium,” “Coreopsis Mastoidit In April, the first green shoots will begin to appear—generally in the most unexpected places. Thirstily the little buds drink up the drops you shower upon them; slowly their tender stalks push up, grow strong, and blossom; and to-morrow a heavy rainstorm will wash most of them into the next yard. But what are incidental disap- pointments, when you finally have that proud elation of beholding the first young plant ripen to maturity? You bend down and caress its leafy shoots; it is soft to the touch; it is altogether beautiful. It is a weed. “A weed!" you cry. “Our first weed!” It all hardly seems possible, but there the evidence stands. And as the months go by, you will have other weeds to gladden your heart: scores of weeds, hundreds of them, thousands of them. And one measly little snip of a geranium. Or perhaps you have planted a truck garden, not a flower one. Per- haps you have. Who knows? Norman R. Jaffray. “I hear there's The Automat O# how I love the Automat, The place where all the food is at! I like to watch the milk run out And join the coffee at the spout. I put a nickel in the slot And watch to see what I have got. The little door then opens wide And gives me what has been inside, There’s cakes and sandwiches galore And pies and cooked things by the score. Oh, yes! I love the Automat, The place where all the food is at. Elizabeth M. Koehnline. A Tight Fix STATION ANNOUNCER: We're sunk! Exectrician: What's the trouble? Station Announcer: The “Phan- tom Soprano” is wedged in the door to the broadcasting room! “PHEY were amazed when I spoke to Mayor Thompson in the King’s English.” big increase in unemployment this year.” “Yes—it’s a rotten shame, There won't be any distinction any more in being idle” comicbooks.com