Life, 1929-02-22 · page 16 of 36
Life — February 22, 1929 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains automotive and social satire from the early 20th century. The main illustration shows a man with a tiny car dwarfed beside a massive ship, captioned with a joke about taking the car to a filling station for "free crank case service"—satirizing automobile owners' penny-pinching despite owning luxury vehicles. The "Keeping Up With Current Events" section mocks Mr. Doe, an everyman character, who considers purchasing a Priceless Eight automobile. A salesman persuades him to buy a yearly subscription to Pontifex Six magazine instead, getting new car models delivered regularly. The page satirizes consumerism, automobile culture, and aspiring middle-class buyers trying to keep pace with luxuries they can barely afford—a recurring theme in Life's social commentary of this era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Keeping Up With Current Events This is a true story. A certain Mr. John Doe, thinking he would like a motor car, went to the salesroom of the Priceless Eight and asked the bishop in attendance “Is the new Priceless out yet?” “Not yet” was the reply, “The March issue woa't be out until Thursday. We have the F& ruary number—” “No, I've seen that,” said Mr. Doe, “Well, I guess—" “I'll tell you what,” said the salesman, “Drop in Wednesday night and I'll let you have one.” “Maybe,” nodded Mr. Doe and went to the salon of the Pontifex Six, “Yes,” a salesman replied to his question, “The first March issue is out—the Ponti. fex is a twice-a-month car now, you know—” “I wonder,” mused Mr. Dee, thoughtfully, “Whether I'd better take this one or go and get the new Hiccup mobile?” “I'd advise this one,” smiled the salesman. “The Hiccupmobile has be come a weekly and they say its circuls- tion has fallen off terribly... Why don't you take out a yearly subscription to the Pontifex Six? In that way you get all the new Pontifex models as they come out: twenty-four a year, besides special hali- day issues....That’s fine, Mr.—cr—Dee? —sign right here on the dotty line!” Sometimes a man is jugged by the company he keeps. AutomosiLe OwNer: Say, wouldn't I like to take this baby up to a filling station and ask for free crank case service! We have secretly hoped for some] Once there was a movie actor who time now that cither the Paramount or| stuttered. He was starred in a slow motion | the Roxy theatre would be demolished or | talkie, | something so that we could use our nifty headline. “The Fall of the House of Usher.” “I've decided to part my heir in the middle,” said the ax fiend as he made a! f! pass at his son. “Is Jones an old-time New Yorker?” “He sure is. Why he can remember when Walter Winchell was way up-| It takes all kinds of people to make|Revetter: Here’s a dollar, Old Timer— town.” }a chorus girl. you're really not fair to yourself. comicbooks.com