Life, 1928-05-17 · page 40 of 42
Life — May 17, 1928 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes 1920s dating customs and parental authority. It depicts a young woman ("flapper") embracing a man when her father unexpectedly arrives home. The joke's punchline—"Offer Dad a MURAD" (a cigarette brand)—suggests that offering the father a smoke will defuse his anger at finding his daughter in a "tight clutch" with an unmarried man. The cartoon mocks both the strict moral codes parents enforced and the flapper generation's defiance of them. It's also a cigarette advertisement exploiting the scenario for commercial purposes. The page's reader letters reveal contemporary tensions: one reader protests Life's ridicule of Prohibition as unpatriotic, while another praises the magazine's irreverent stance. These letters show Life's satirical editorial position was genuinely controversial during the 1920s.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
EMOTIONAL MOMENTS THE LIFE OF A FLAPPER When your father comes in suddenly after you have come home from a dance, and finds you in a tight clutch with a young man, just . . . Offer Dad a MURAD. © P. Lorillard Co., Eat, 1760 AND WESTERN NORWAY wtbrrerRANEAN Cruise, s s “‘Lancastria,”” June 30 52 days, $600—$1300; bon, Spain, Tangier, Algiers, Italy,’ Riviera, Sweden, Norway, Scotland, Berlin, (Paris, London). Short Cruise, omitting Norway, $475. Jan. 16 Round the World Cruise, $1000 up Jan. 30 Mediterranean Crulse, 66 days, $600 up Frank C. Clark, TimesBidg.,N.Y. No matter whether you plan to spend $300 or $3000, our specially prepared descriptive booklet, sent free on request, will be invaluable. Tours with escort. Independent Tours. Private Auto Tours. DEAN « DAWSON, Leta. 500 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. Established $7 years 40 European Offices PARIS ROME Rent a small car +++ $50,000 week up ... see twice as much. Motor Map $1. 4 . 2 LONDON CAIRO PARTOUT TOURING inc AUTO SERVICE ABROAD 551 FIFTH AVE. NEW YORK CITY Roses and Razzberries PAINLESS DENTISTRY To tHe Epiror or Lire, Sir: Enclosed find check covering the subscription price for two years of List, It is a fine little magazine and is the one ( that all the patients read while waiting for the dentist. Dr. G. E. Cox ( Witeuncton, Det. . I “JUST BETWEEN US GIRLS” Hu To tHe Eortor or Lire. t Sir: a I had made it a custom to give . Lire to my husband as a Christmas gift, 1 and it was enjoyed by the entire family. BUT—I never DID approve of your rid: t culing our Prohibition law, for it’s a LAW p just as much as any other—and whether it's a GOOD law or not, is a matter of s opinion. I take the stand that in ridicul f ing any law of the United States, one is a traitor. That's plain language, but whenever I looked at one of your hor. tible cartoons—it made my blood boil. To think that the public would stand for a thing like that—and should I renew my subscription, I would be an accessory. You are WRONG—I am not one who makes a fight for the Volstead Act—but / I respect all the laws of this great land of ours, and feel that those who DO fight for it, know the situation better than I do—and if it were not a good law, so many people would not sanction it. Enuf said—but do not send us any In more of the inclosed literature, until you change the policy of your publication, thr which I realize will never be done, so ure long as the monied powers are backing th you up in your stand—but we are sup na planting Lire with another publication, tha equally good and BETTER in this ONE tra respect. Mrs. Genevieve P. Fuixn har Lawson, Ga. ans is t WE WANT MORE OF THESE nee To tne Eprtor oF Lire. em Sir: pas In August I sent you one dollar Th and threatened to subscribe a full year ; when that bit had expired, if I were able gol to do so. If it were not that our whole pla family are strong adherents of the Vol stead law, I would probably prefer to We buy a quart with this money and enjoy the best in life, but being prohibitioniss at we are spending this for the pleasurt your publication affords us, regard of the leaning you have toward the wets. Mrs. Ernest Amos TALanasste, Fra. F comicbooks.com