Life, 1928-12-07 · page 18 of 64
Life — December 7, 1928 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes women smoking cigarettes in the 1920s-1930s era, a relatively new and controversial social practice. The verses by John La Gatta and Jerome Barry describe five female "types" and how they smoke: - **Pour L'Art**: The aesthetic, pretentious smoker - **The Amateur**: An inexperienced, awkward smoker who coughs - **The Tapper**: A nervous smoker who fidgets with the cigarette - **The Confirmed Addict**: A heavy, habitual smoker showing physical decline The accompanying sketches mockingly illustrate each "type." The satire mocks both women's adoption of smoking and broader anxieties about changing female behavior and independence during this era. The tone is lighthearted ridicule of modern women challenging traditional gender norms.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
My Lady’s Cigarette SKETCHES BY VERSES BY Joun La GaTTA JEROME BARRY Pour v’Art Alicia holds in her slender fingers A cigarette with her private label. She rests her elbow upon the table; Her jeweled gesture in mid-air lingers. She seldom bothers to take a puff; Her weed goes out, for she's sure to slight 1t. A dozen admirers race to light it Since they don’t mind, why, it’s fair enough. Tue AMATEUR Marian places her thumb below And all four fingers upon the top, As though each covered a tiny stop Of a flageolet and she meant to blow A song of satyrs and Pan, the Goat (Before they met with their taking off) — But all one hears is a tiny cough When a wisp of smoke gets down her throat. Tue Tapper Dorothy fishes one out with care And raps its end on the cardboard box; Then on her thumbnail thrice she knocks; She doesn’t know why. But it’s debonair! And while she’s smoking, her fingers twitter,— A flick with this one, a tap with that! No ash can last while you'd murmur “seat.” (The housemaid’s glances are glum and bitter.) U) / - Tre Conrirmen Appict 4 Jane inhales like a suction cleaner, Absorbing smoke to her inmost places; And then it trickles through words and phrases For minutes after. Her face is leaner Than once it was, and her sleep is rest- less. She tells of the packs she smokes each ay, And boasts that her nerves are fraz- zled away. Her greatest zest is in being zestless. comicbooks.com