Life, 1928-04-19 · page 9 of 43
Life — April 19, 1928 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**"A Good Business Man"** depicts a judge sentencing a defendant for selling scrap metal ("old iron, metal and bones") to the public. The cartoon satirizes wartime profiteering and fraud—selling worthless or salvaged materials while misrepresenting them as valuable goods. **"The Cart Before the Horse"** shows a customer ordering an absurdly long list of specific items from what appears to be a general store or pharmacy, growing increasingly desperate and demanding. It satirizes both consumer entitlement and post-WWI scarcity, mocking people's unrealistic expectations when goods are limited. **The divorce-scene cartoon** shows a woman telling her taxi driver she's engaged to him to escape her marriage—satirizing either desperate marriages or the cynicism of urban romance. These pieces reflect 1920s concerns: fraud, consumerism, and social disruption post-war.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Still More Data on the Average Man E thinks that a million dollars is an awful lot of money to pay a pricefighter. As a boy he used to get a big kick out of roasting marshmellas. When he and his wife visited At- lantic City the hotel clerk assigned them to a bridal suit. He says he has got used to his mother-law and he likes one of his brother-laws as if he were his own brother. His favorite ice cream is vanella. Three dollars and carfare is what his wife pays the washwoman. When his children eat grapes he cautions them against swallowing the seeds because they may produce pen- dacitis. His physician has given him some- thing that will break up a cold just like that: it's a little white capsel. Tup. a a A Gooo Business Man Juvce: You've just pleaded guilty to yelling “Old iron, metal and bones” on the public streets, Now, have you anything to ask the court? Prisoner: Yessir. Any old iron, metal and bones? UDGE: But why do you wish this divorce? The Cart Before the Horse “T WONDER if you keep corks? ... What kind of corks?...Why, just plain everyday cork corks, for a bottle, 1 guess. will be enough. ute... Oh, one gallon.’. ..Now, have you any coriander?...About an ounce. I want a small medicine dropper, too. ...How much is that? ...Do you keep glycerine?...I'll have a bottle of glycerine, please.... Oh, just an ordinary bottle, say about this big....Now, let's see if _ ——— YX"; TA Mr. Fistt: Who's the boy friend? Mrs. Fist: Oh, just one of my old schoolmates, I've got everything....Oh, yes! I would like a hyjuniper....A hy- juniper....1 think that’s—oh, no! A hydrometer....Now, I would like a juniper....Oh, just a few, I guess, ...Oh! Yes, an ounce sounds about ight, I guess....Now, let’s see if I've forgotten anything....Oh, yes, I want three gallon jugs....No! One gallon—three one-gallon jugs. .. I'd like a dozen oranges and a dozen lemons, please.... Have you any seltzer water? .-I'll take three or four bot- tles, I guess. How about a funnel?...Haven't you one with a strainer?...Well, give me a funnel and a strainer separate, then. “Now, I wonder if I might speak to you in private for a momen t...(Whispering.) How - much - is - pure-bonded- Government-grain-alcohol?... You haven’t!...Oh, Lord! They told me you carried it... Then I guess I won't need those things that I ordered, after all.... Frosted chocolate, please.” Jack Cluett. IGHT CLUB raiders are cer- tainly getting down to brass tac- tics. Fam Piaintive: Well, I'm think- ing of getting married. Sue: Oh, Jack, perhaps you'd better stop now. I believe I'm engaged to this driver. comicbooks.com