Life — July 17, 1931 — page 6: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Bee Hive By Fisher" - Life Magazine Satire The cartoon depicts businessmen relaxing by playing golf, illustrating the column's humorous premise: putting honey in car radiators (suggested by the Agriculture Department as a cooling agent). The letter from "Jack Cluett" describes absurd consequences of this advice—bees swarming his car, gnats in the water pump, ants in the piston rings. He details escalating chaos: children licking the radiator cap, and requests to drive down Los Angeles streets with "bubbles exploding in your radiator." The satire mocks both the Agriculture Department's impractical wartime suggestion and the comedic desperation of motorists trying novel solutions during what appears to be a materials shortage. The joke relies on the ridiculousness of literal implementation of official advice.