Life — August 23, 1928 — page 3: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of This Life Magazine Page This page combines literary satire with automotive advertising. The left column reviews "The Virgin Queene," a play by Harford Powell Jr. about Barnham Dunn, a trumpeter who purchases an English manor. The review humorously describes the play's theatrical journey—Dunn initially refused to stage or print it, then scholars debated its merit, eventually embracing it as Shakespeare-quality work. The right side features a Houdaille shock absorber advertisement using the play's theme of "blanket tossing"—the ad jokes that no car should subject you to such indignities without proper suspension control. The advertisement emphasizes that major automobile manufacturers standardly equipped their vehicles with Houdaille absorbers, positioning the product as essential for ride comfort and safety.