Life, 1928-06-07 · page 13 of 54
Life — June 7, 1928 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes **ventriloquism as a metaphor for female political participation**. The top cartoon mocks the Women's Club of Camphor, Illinois entering "international good will" efforts—implying women are merely puppets controlled by men, lacking independent voices. The main illustration shows a ventriloquist manipulating a dummy labeled "The Sad Plight of the Ventriloquist Who Forgot Where He Threw His Voice," suggesting confusion about who actually speaks for whom in women's activism. The accompanying pseudo-phonetic text parodies overwrought oratory, mocking both the ventriloquist's affected speech and the absurdity of women's clubs as hollow performance rather than genuine civic engagement. The bottom comic about bedside manner offers domestic humor unrelated to the political satire above.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Women’s Club of Camphor, Il, Enters the Field of Inter- national Good Will (Mrs. Everitt Ernest Belcher, a Daughter of the American Revolution, speaking.) ~Peeeeceeece!....A littul ward auv fve lettuzz.....A summoll, inn-sigg- riffy-knt ward. -A_ ward that: may bee pronownst weeuth eceeekwull eeecez by thee bay-beh, lisssssping his farst hawl- ung silly-bulls, anduh by thee sturrong, syelunt. statesmunn, stecering thee sssship auy ssssstate uccrawss thee ruffff, bounding sceeeee auv forrun-ree-lay- shunz!....Itsss soooweet mewzick pen- nytrates thee utt-moste farstnessizz; it spurreddz itss soffft huwwite weeungs thee nayshunz auv thee arth az a muthuh-henn broooooding ovuh her weeeeek, downeh chicksss.....Anduh weeee, thee menn anduh wimmen auv Ummerrykuh, are thee repp-ree-zenty- uz auv peeeeceece! Umm-erry-kuh ulone auvy awl thee nayshunz auv thee ath dizz-eye-uzz peeece! Inn a vulguh Anduh booooo iz bettuh fittid faw such a glawri- ws role? Weee saved Yew-rupp frawm milly-turrizzum inn nineteen-ay-teen, wee onjjy-natid thee Leeeeeeeceg auv Nay- shunz, weee have spur-red thee soocect weeeungs auv peeecece ovuh South Um- ery-kuh! Butt whutt are thee factssss? We have nott beeen suvvere, wee have beeen /eeny-yunt weeuth theze backwudd peepulz tew thee southward! Wee have lllowed Meck-sikko tew settul her own difyruntsizz, tew even make her own Tue Sav Puicht or THE VentriLoquist Wio Forcot Wuere He Trrew His Voice lawz, though we knew those lawz tew be un-jeeusst! Hoooooo butt thee Yooonye-tidd Ssssstates woood have beeen sso payshunt? Weeee have ssspent thou- zundz auv dolluz anduh thee bulludd auv owuh Murreenz tew carry thee duvv auv peeece tew waw—tawn Nikky-rragg- yew-are. Hooo butt thee Yoonye-tidd Ssstates wood have offud such a sack- riff-ice faw a weeeeck, un-sivvy-lized, backwudd nayshun? Anduh in Hay-tece, my furrendz, wee have nott onleh saved Fest Burctar: Just watch me, kid, if you want to learn how to develop a bedside manner. thee unn-faw-chunnate naytivys frawm thee horruzz auv revvo-loooshun—wee have done maw than thatt, wee have pro-vie-did them weeuth a_ sssstay-bull guvvunment! Nay, maw, wee have runn thatt guvvunment faw them! Is thatt nott thee ackmee auv jenny-rossiteh, auv sahvisss, auv ssself-dee-nye-ing ahl-trew- izzzm? Huwware inn thee hole warld is thare ssso spullendid a producct auv thee aijizz az thee Umm-erry-kun Peeeeecece- pul? Weee are thee save-yuh nayshun! Peeeece iz upp tew uss! Itt iz they-are- faw owuh dew-tch tew have a gurray- tuh fieceet, a gurraytuh armch, a gurray- tuh air—fawce than enny nayshun up- pawn thiss arth!....Ite is thee dew-teh auv theze Yoonye-tidd Ssstates tew be SO sturrong, milly-terry-leh, thatt no wun weeull DARE tew sstart a Anduh thusss, theee lye-unn shee-all lie down weeuth thee lamb, anduh theee EEEEEGULL ‘sheee-all roooooool ovuh awl thisss bee-yooty-full warld. . . . Peeee- eceecececeeeecece!. ... Wunn-duffull pee- eceeceece!. Thats is owuh gifft tew mannKIND!” Heman Fay, Jr. TIMED Cook: Yes, ma’am, exactly three minutes. Mrs. West: Then put the eggs on to boil and we'll have them right for once! I'm leavin’ in comicbooks.com