Life, 1929-08-02 · page 27 of 40
Life — August 2, 1929 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from Life magazine contains two satirical sections mocking Manhattan's cultural and civic life. **"Manna-About-Town"** opens with a joke about the Heckcher building's rooster weathervane, then delivers rapid-fire quips about contemporary New York: talkie photo booths (Photomatons), women's fashion choices, and a ethnic joke about a Scottish man whose brain is removed at St. Vincent's hospital during a fire—the punchline being he ends up teaching school in Ireland. **"Manhattan Raps-ody"** critiques specific figures and venues: Earl Carroll (a theatrical impresario), Grand Central Terminal's architecture, Gershwin's music, civic leader Grover Whalen's management of the city, and Dr. Rockwell. The humor targets pretension in theater, questionable civic policies, and public figures' competence. The cartoons illustrate these complaints with sketched social scenes. The satire assumes readers' familiarity with these local personalities and venues, critiquing both high culture and urban governance through exaggerated complaint and ethnic humor typical of 1920s-30s American magazines.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
New YorkK dian thinks about as much of his art as Earl Carroll does of improving the theatre . . . | suggest that the gentle- men listed above (the editor excepted) yo into a huddle and get a new act! Manhattan Raps-ody The top of the Grand Central build- ing looks like Little Nemo’s palace «. « Gershwin's music for “Show Girl” is not so hot and that includes “An American in Paris.” ... Why doesn’t Grover Whalen do something about needled beer? . . . why doesn’t he raise the speed limit on Riverside Drive and lower it in the theatres? ... why doesn't he let people park all day on the street if they want to? ... they do it anyway so why not give them permission? ...why don't Buses stop at signs that say “Bus stops here when signalled”? ... Earl Carroll ought to give another bath-tub party and take one himself... . Who told Dr. Rockwell he was funny? Manna- About-Town The rooster atop the Heck- scher building tells you all about the weather... if it points gener- ally north it is go- ing to be a nice day and cool- ish... but then, mind you, if it points south it means rain, hail, snow or a dry raid . . . the Photomatons have gone talkie—you can now have your picture “took” and hear yourself talk... why is it gels take so long to put on so little? . . . the dear things will go without stockings but you can bet your sweet life they'll never go without shoes . . . it would hurt their feet and besides shoes are too expensive to go without... the story that’s going ardund about the Scotchman who was having his brain removed at St. Vin- cent’s hospital when the fire broke out —everybody rushed to the street and when they came back the Scotchman was gone but his brain was still on the table—it became a great mystery and where do you think they finally found him?—teaching school in Ire- land! comicbooks.com