Life — November 15, 1929 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Explanation of This Life Magazine Page This page contains two separate pieces of humor: **Top cartoon:** Shows a parent asking a teacher if the school is "up to date," requesting Ernest Hemingway write the primer. It satirizes the 1920s-30s trend of treating modernist literary figures as cultural authorities, while mocking both Hemingway's fame and educational pretension. **"It Sims To Me" column:** Tom Sims offers scattered one-liners on contemporary life—bootleggers fearing judges with hangovers, observations about bridge parties and ten-year-old liquor. These are light social commentary on Prohibition-era concerns. **Right illustration:** "The tourist who declared everything" depicts a crowded scene with large letters D, E, F visible—likely satirizing tourists who make grand pronouncements about unfamiliar places. The detailed crowd and carnival-like chaos emphasize the chaotic nature of such declarations.