Life, 1929-07-12 · page 38 of 48
Life — July 12, 1929 — page 38: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon depicts a social etiquette scenario: a man at a party has been making disparaging remarks about the gathering, only to realize he's been speaking to the hostess herself. The joke's resolution—"be nonchalant...LIGHT A MURAD"—is an advertisement for Murad cigarettes, suggesting that smoking provides a face-saving escape from social awkwardness. The cartoon satirizes early 20th-century social anxieties about maintaining composure in embarrassing situations. The "solution" of lighting a cigarette reflects period advertising that positioned smoking as a sophisticated, calming social ritual—a way to regain composure and dignity when caught in a faux pas. The accompanying advertisement for the Russell Patterson School promises training in humorous illustration as a "delightful, well-paid profession," targeting aspiring commercial artists. The page also includes "Mrs. Pep's Diary," a serialized humor column documenting mundane social observations and domestic life.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
EMBARRASSING MOMENTS When you have been making funny remarks about the party... and find it’s your hostess you are talking to... be nonchalant...LIGHT A MURAD. © P. Lorillard Co., Est. 1760 HUMOROUS, | IN wgRAn Now you can enjoy a really up-to-date training, in this attractive field. full of sparkle and dash— a radical departure and pleasant relief from old fashioned courses and an- tiquated methods. Pre- pare for a career in this delightful, well-paid pro- fession. Write for free il- lustrated book, ‘The Last Word in Humorous IIlus- tration.” The Russell Patterson School | —jawrror: Do you mind my looking over Michigan Ave, at 20th St., Dept. 5 yer shoulder while you work? CHICAGO, ILL. werner” Mrs. Pep’s Diary (Continued from Page 18) cent salad dressing. Lord! the longer I live, the more convinced I do be. come that those who could say some. thing which it might be interesting to hear are the last persons in the cosmos who can be made to impan it. I do hope, moreover, that my vanilla ice-cream debauch in North- ampton will never reach Samuel's cars, for 1 am now atoning for it with a Cycle-of-Cathay adherence to grape. fruit and raw vegetables, com. parison with which a hair shirt as punishment would seem like swans. down, But however much convales cence from my malady may have been retarded by gastronomical indulgence, the fatigue in my feet from so much running about is the discomfort which acutely impresses me, and has inspired me with the splendid idea of return. ing to all similar future festivities with a Palm Beach chair and a_ sturdy pedaler. And the two new solitaires which Lora Whorf and Rachel John- son did teach me are well worth the casualties of a copy of “The Brooklyn Murders” and a cake of costly bath- soap. June 21—Betimes up, and off with Sam to inspect the new dwelling we have chosen because of its fine view up and down the East River, resent- ing bitterly the corner juts made by girders which do nought but hold the building up and which do interfere disastrously with my plans for distrib- uting our furniture. To luncheon at a publick on a cubic inch of scrod and a dish of herbs, my hostess being a new acquaintance who spoke me so fair throughout the meal that I could not but ponder, after reaching home, how those who give ear to flattery are not so silly as they sound, for they do at least have the satisfaction which comes from complacent credulity, whereas more skeptical wretches like myself do lean backwards to discount pleasant statements in which there might, perhaps, be a modicum ot truth. Confiding this to Samuel, he did marvel that soothsayers have such success with me, for it is my policy with them to set great store by every favorable utterance, and to cast aside all references to omens of ill or to flaws in my character. To bed this night with an easy conscience save for the low visibility of the phrase “slightly sweetened” on a bottle of Mission Dry Orange Juice which Mr. Howard Langley did send me. comicbooks.com