Life, 1929-04-12 · page 24 of 44
Life — April 12, 1929 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes two opposing temperaments about rainy days in 1920s New York City. **"April Showers"** mocks the relentlessly cheerful person—the exercise-obsessed, punctual type who never forgets insurance payments. The author champions instead the melancholic poet who finds beauty in rain, wet pavements, and dreariness. **"Let it Rain!"** humorously catalogs indoor rainy-day activities for New Yorkers: taking buses around the city, hunting for taxis (itself presented as a "sport"), visiting speakeasies (illegal during Prohibition—a knowing joke), penny arcades with curiosities like "Half Man-Half Woman," and exploring Grand Central Station's shops and restaurants. The final caption sarcastically demands "more swimming pools" when the city already offers endless indoor distractions. The satire gently mocks both urban ennui and New York's commercialized leisure culture—turning a rainy day into an elaborate urban adventure designed to keep people indoors spending money.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
22 April Showers “T'M Always Blue When It Rains,” T: the title of a song which is be- ing broadcast over a network of nine thousand stations about nine thou- sand times every night . . . the song it- self isn’t so bad but the sentiment is all wet... the bird who is blue when it rains is one of those cheery sunshine loving pests who is up with the dawn going through snappy exercises, laugh- ing heartily all through breakfast and down at the office at nine o'clock sharp . . .he never forgets his rubbers, birthdays, anniversaries or dates when his insurance falls due . . . give me the sympathetic soul who gets a kick out of a dark dank drizzly day, who likes the sound of rain drops on the roof, who revels in the fairy- land of reflections on wet pave- ments, who loves the feel of dampness . . . there is the true poet, the artist . . . and if I were an artist my masterpiece would be a canvas of the Great White Way on a rainy night . . . to me, nothing is more beau- tiful. Let it Rain! >. ew gS os tit’. We will now rise and sing our theme song for the week “Old Man Noah Knew a Thing or Two,” which brings us right smack up to our illustrated lecture “What To Do in New York on a Rainy Day” or “Rainy Day Sports For Young and Old” + there are many and divers amuse- ments for those who would venture forth of a wet afternoon - forexample, climb up to the top of a Fifth Ave- nue Bus (you'll have it all to yourself) and take a tour of the city... if you're a real sport spend the af- ternoon trying to get a taxi... if you're lucky enough to spear one take a run out to Claremont or Arrowhead Inn for tea - or go down to the Lafayette and play checkers or bridge + Or sit in some nice cozy speakeasy. Cheap Sport The Penny Ar- cades are popular retreats on rainy mat- ineeless days... here you can play football or — golf without getting wet, enjoy the Flea Cir- cus, the Half Man- Half Woman, Views of Nellie in the Bath, or’ shoot at clay pipes . . . the whole afternoon will set you back about ninety cents—that is, if you don’t gamble. Underground Take your girl over to Grand Cen- tral Station for the afternoon .. . there you will find everything from Art Galleries to Oyster-Stews and you can kiss her every time a train leaves. Take her for a ride on the shuttle to Times Square and back— all without going outside in the rain! More swimming pools for our babies is what this city needs! Div iA some ming ting a nic ina: Tl s seum comicbooks.com