Life, 1929-01-18 · page 7 of 44
Life — January 18, 1929 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate humorous pieces: **"The Movie Extra's Lament"** and **"Love's Logic"** are brief text jokes about romance and marriage, including a quip about a Scotsman and a talking machine. **The main cartoon** (center-right) depicts a wrestling match with spectators on bleachers. The referee announces they've "changed our minds; we've decided to be wrestlers"—apparently the fighters were initially doing something else (the joke's specific reference is unclear from context alone). **"Economics"** (bottom-right) is a dialect-heavy dialogue between characters named Gus and a woman, discussing financial hardship: rain, snow, struggling business, and the difficulty of making ends meet. This appears to reference working-class economic struggles, likely from the post-WWI era when Life regularly satirized labor and poverty issues. The artwork style and heavy use of working-class dialect humor was typical of Life's satirical approach.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“THE MOVIE EXTRA’S LAMENT Dovete, double, toil and double. “So Helene is playing the shy, demure young thing no | “Yes, and her grandmother's trying to teach her to blush.” Love’s Logic He liked her for the way she flirted, for the trick she had of curling her lips into an irresistible pout, for the little pleated skirts she wore that showed her dimpled knees, for the way she whispered: “darling boy.” So cventually they were married. He divorced her for the way she flirted, for the trick she had of curling her lips into an irresistible pout, for the little pleated skirts | Have you heard the story of the Scotchman whose wife asked him for a talking machine, so he moved to a hill side with an echo? Rererte: Say, this is a fight, not a wrestling match! “Yeh—well we changed our minds; we've decided to be wrestlers.” Economics “Suine ‘em dark, Gus.” “O. K., boss.” “How’s business?” “He’s onna bum. Too mucha rain, too mucha snow. Nobody wants getta shoe shine when feet alla wet.” “That's too bad, Gus.” “Aw, don’ maka no diff. I'ma glada no work so hard. Work is a lotta bunk. Only maka fella die more quick.” “Well, that’s right.” “Sure ving is right. When business good, worka very hard. Getta lotta moncy. Wife she go craz’. Blow mucha moncy. Buya clothes an’ lotta junk.” “You mean the more you earn the more she spends?” “You speaka face full, boss. When is all over, I’m jus’ where I starta from—only “Good-bye, dear, hope you have a safo gotta bum back from too much stoopa crossing.” over and shina shoes. Better for me when business is shoota to piece......Wanna putta in new laces, boss?” comicbooks.com