Life, 1928-05-03 · page 17 of 46
Life — May 3, 1928 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two comedic sections satirizing theatrical and social pretense: **Top section**: Reports that "Judge Jr." (a child character) is lost, with a humorous note explaining his plane crashed near George Olsen's nightclub location. A message in a Mozie bottle from the child uses deliberately malapropropisms and crude language, mocking both childish speech and affected theatrical performers. **Bottom section ("Laughs from the Shows")**: A multi-panel comic strip parodying Broadway theater culture. Characters discuss a show, reference classical theater (Oedipus Rex, Hamlet), and make jokes about pretentious theatrical language ("Machiavelli"), expensive clothing ($10 suits), and clichéd theater gossip ("The Calves of 1928"). The humor targets the self-importance and absurdity of theater world conventions. Overall, the page mocks theatrical affectation and Broadway's pretentiousness during the Jazz Age.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
With Apologies to JUDGE = J) IGE EXTRA! EXTRA! JUDGE, JR., LOST AS NATION CHEERS! Note: The Judge, Jr., plane, “The Spirit of Horsefeathers,” has crashed to earth and can’t be located—not that anyone has been looking. When last seen, the plane was looping the loop under a table at George Olsen's place (157 West 56th Street, High Hat Club Rendezvous. Best crowd in New York. $8 00 CC. Don). The following message was found in a Moxie bottle, floating in the Gowanus Canal; it was written by cute little Junior himself, in his own imitable style: pentrouble forest of empty bottles! And nobody here ‘cept me an’ Mac an’ a (Hic) total (Hic) stranger who says he isn’t Barney Gallant but he knows a man named Crosby if that's any help. Hey! Hey! (Hic)...Last thing I ‘member, me and Mac were in Huyler’s, AAT= singing (Hic) “Boola-Boola” an’ “Amherst Must Win."...Honest ossi- fer, we weren't doonna thing. . nly singing (Hic).. “’Swonderful, ‘Smar- | velous” (“ Funny F ace’) an’ “A Souvenirs” (no show) hoarsely to Mac, Is (Hie) an’ why ‘Search me.”. an’ found six marbles, a Boy Scout case-knife an’ a crayon enlargement of the li'l woman in his pocket an’ so Mac an’ I an’ the man who said he wasn’t (Hic) Barney Gallant broke down an’ had a good cry....An’ so we had ‘nother Cherry Surprise (to one part Créme Yvette add six parts Zonite an’ a dash of lavender and serve in old Gordon Water containers ‘til ex- hausted). (Hic)...Fun no end!...An’ (Continued on page 30) So I frisked him, I did, | LAWGII® vam te OIL OWS VERN Mie i itor WAS’ THAT BULL 3 (SEEN NC YOU WITH LAST «NIGHT- py Ww UDDER Cows i) Pepe rrr” rt IS Se? Me I DIDNT EVEN Kov ry eG H THE WORD a NE A StuttaCe SKACHAVELLL VEAL NT Sur. TOR sj WELL AS THE CHINESE TALOR SW STL | K\ACAIAVELL NICE * ci Ions pros RE “ A LAUGHS" 16 ke ER ASWORMS comicbooks.com