Life, 1929-01-04 · page 13 of 36
Life — January 4, 1929 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**The Cartoon:** The top illustration shows Mr. Peck discovering bandits have gagged his wife, prompting him to rush to her rescue. This appears to be a domestic humor sketch playing on the ironic appeal of silencing one's spouse. **The Literary Content:** Below are three separate pieces: "The Masterpiece" (a poem mocking commercial art by Paul McCrea), a joke about Scottish penny-pinching in cinema, and a satirical rewrite of "The Star-Spangled Banner" with phonetic spelling showing how Americans mispronounce the national anthem. **The Point:** This page combines domestic satire, critiques of commercialism in art, and gentle mockery of American cultural literacy—specifically how the national anthem's lyrics are mangled through careless singing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ee ee Nn er Ue UN te When Mr. Peck came home and found bandits had gagged his wife, he screamed and rushed to her rescue. The Masterpiece Ir’s written in boyish fashion, A simple and childish scroll; I wrote it when wild with passion And in it I wrote my soul. I gave not a thought to diction, I gave not a thought to gold, Nor if it were truth or fiction, And now it’s about to be sold. For Commerce is e’er the destroyer Of Art—and my fate I can see, For she took it ‘round to her lawyer— And the guy who will buy it is me. Paul McCrea, Tuey’re already making harmoni- cas and accordions that play from rolls. There’s sinister warning in that. What if some fiend should perfect a self-playing saxophone? A ScotcHMan once made a talking movie and dropped all his aiches because he wasn’t paid for them. Our National Anthem as She Is Sung by 7 O-on, SAY can you SEE 4 in the dawn’s surly LL-IGHT hum car! y What so PROUDLY | .. F et twilight’s) gleaming] Ut dmmmmdm wee; hailed; by the starlight’s} last beaming} Whose| broad stripes bright stars in \ the PERil'us fight The bright stars { and broad stripes thru Those By O’er } the RAM-parts we Or And regular) and Or the rocket’s red glare) the} bom’s bursting in air Now red glaran’ the Its at night bao leamin, were so gallantly 8 8 streaming washed | beaming watched feat the Agbtl trae OURL FLAG was J¢tl, THERE Gave PROOF night; thef still) thuh yet] wa-ave Oh, SA-AY DUZ Than } star-spangled Ba-a NEER sill} wa-ay O'er the HOOMES of the FREE, and the TAND} of the BRAVE! Le comicbooks.com