Life, 1928-12-07 · page 19 of 64
Life — December 7, 1928 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page features a humorous diary column mixed with social commentary. The main cartoon depicts Santa Claus asking a child, "Carry your bag, Mister?" — a reversal suggesting the child will carry Santa's heavy sack, playing on post-WWI economic hardship where even Christmas gift-giving has become burdensome. The diary entries mock upper-class holiday anxieties: Mrs. Pep frets over expensive Christmas gifts she can barely afford, complains about her hair and manicure, and makes caustic remarks about the Prohibition era (references to "liquor or Russian caviar"). The accompanying illustration "The Nightie Before Christmas" parodies the famous poem title. Overall, the satire targets affluent women's vanity and materialism during economically uncertain times.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Ss Vs Ss Ws Wns LUPE LAL LL LPL MRS. PEP’S DIARY Novemser 14—The first post filled with letters from kind- Baird ly persons who wish to aid J me in my quest for the Leonaré verse about the survivors of the fiery furnace, and it does appear that a deal of rhyming, all of it amusing, has been done for those three enduring gentle- men. Two copies of the version I was after did come from Evelyn Friede, the publisher, who tells me that “Warm Babies” will be included in a volume of Keith Preston’s verse which her firm will put out next spring and that she con- siders it far superior to anything done bi Milton or any other poet who dealt wit biblical subjects. My favorite lines are the following appeal to Nebuchadnezzar: by “Abednego yell, wid a loud ‘Kerchoo!" ‘Is you out to freeze us, you great big Jew?" ** albeit the concluding sou lets have no in- significant place in English literature: “Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Hay foot, straw foot, three in a row, Stepped right smart from dat oven door Jes’ as good as they wuz before, An’ far as Nebuchadnezzar could find, Jes’ as good as they wuz behind."* To the florist’s for some pink roses to take kfie Goings as a birthday tribute,and I did also give her six fine linen luncheon nap- kins edged with Cluny which I did make myself through my great affection for her, and even my servant Virgie was obliged to admit that they had no made-with-loving- hands look and that any casual inspectne might credit them to the Maison de Blanc, such pains had I taken with the inser- tion of the Venise initials. Novemser 15—At my Christmas list all |the morning, greatly depressed at its | length and he folly af ia money for presents which will probably not as they delight me, and I do verily be- lieve that this year I shall give everybody either liquor or Russian caviar, however much such a policy may resemble the ae “Carry your bag, Mister?” ying out so much | lease the recipients one-half as much | Tue Nicune Berore Crristmas | Yuletide largesse of theatrical managers. | Reading in the publick prints how Mrs. | Catt tells women that they are the slaves | of vanity, and agreeing with her, too, for | Lord! when I do not have time to go to the barber, I do fancy that everyone con- versing with me is painfully conscious that my hair is too long on the right side, | so that fre: uently I am impelled to whack Jat it myself, with decidedly unaesthetic |results. It is also true that my brain does not work with its proper dispatch if my nails are not perfectly manicured, so that |my husband does frequently remark how | fortunate it is that I am not Madame | Curie, or someone of ‘similar mental re- sponsibilities. To the Bannings’ for din- ner, all very convivial, and Bob did re- mark that anybody looking at Samuel would never dream there was such a thing as Prohibition in this country. FASHION HINT According to the styles exposed In every modiste’s shop, Legs now are worn much longer, ith a girl perched up on top, — Page 33 comicbooks.com