Life, 1928-12-28 · page 29 of 37
Life — December 28, 1928 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains four separate comic strips satirizing early 20th-century American culture: 1. **Top left**: A domestic joke about the Ford automobile's popularity—a wife's surprise is assumed to be a new Ford, suggesting the car's cultural dominance. 2. **"Tough Referee"**: A sports humor piece about strict officiating. 3. **"Post No Bills" cartoon**: Mocks a property owner posting legal warnings against bill-posting/advertising vandalism on his land, but the sign itself becomes an advertisement, defeating his purpose. 4. **Chiropractor/Medical jokes**: Two separate gags—one about a chiropractor diagnosing rain by feeling bones (pseudoscientific absurdity), another about a knight ("far into the knight," a pun). 5. **Military cartoon**: Officers instructing soldiers to be "Good-will Ambassadors" in a foreign country, likely satirizing American military conduct abroad. The page demonstrates LIFE's focus on domestic humor, commercial critique, and gentle social satire typical of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“John, dear, I've a surprise for you!” “Don't tell me that the new Ford has come!” Commanper: Remember, boys, this is a foreign country and I want you all to consider yourselves “Good-will Ambassadors.” Owner (with satisfaction): There, that'll stop ‘em. Them advertising vandals ain't going to disfigure this landscape. Cinropractor: Well, I'm afraid it's going to rain again today. Panient: How do you figure that out? Crmnopractor: I can feel it in your bones. “And so on, far into the knight.” comicbooks.com