Life, 1929-01-25 · page 17 of 36
Life — January 25, 1929 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several satirical pieces targeting social behavior and current events: **Top cartoon**: "Mrs. Social Climber" mocks wealthy women who overextend themselves with constant activities (golf, tennis, polo, dancing), attributing their energy to inherited vigor from ancestors. **International news items**: Brief satirical reports from Canton (censorship of American films as "Christian propaganda"), Mexico City (a speech repeated verbatim), Lugano (Foreign Minister Zaleski's insomnia), and London (jazz bands for psychiatric patients). **Bottom cartoon**: A pedestrian tells an overloaded motorist his engine is overheated—likely satirizing the mechanical strain of modern automobiles or the absurdity of attempting to transport excessive passengers/cargo. **"A Song Writer to His Son"**: A sentimental piece reassuring a son of paternal love despite life's hardships, contrasting sharply with the page's satirical tone.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Mrs. Soca. Cumper: Yes, I play golf in the morning, tennis at noon, polo in the afternoon, and I dance every evening. I must have inherited my energy from my grand- father—they say he was so strong and virile! CANTON, CHINA—After a few days’ showing in crowded theatres, further per- formances of the American motion pic- ture “Ben Hur” were forbidden today by the Canton Government. The production was stopped on the ground that it was “Christian propaganda.” Damn clever, these Chinese. . MEXICO CITY—Dr. M. E. Bennett, Director of Athletics of Sewanee College, delivered a lecture at the National Uni- versity on United States football. We pre- sume the speech was delivered before the Business College. LUGANO—At a recent session of the League of Nations a report put all the members to sleep except Foreign Minister Zaleski of Poland, who sat up wide-awake. Scialoja, Italian minister, awoke by mis- take, and was astonished to observe his alert contemporary, but “Zaleski explained that he suffered from insomnia. LONDON—A useful purpose has been found for jazz. Poor law patients in Bradford are to organize a jazz band, which the chairman says “will keep the inmates from thinking about themselves.” And their neighbors from thinking at all. PepestRiAN; Pardon me, mister, but I think your engine is overheated. THE SURPRISE OF YOUR LIFE—NEXT WEEK 15 A Song Writer to His Son “Listen, Sonny Boy, here’s a half dollar —run over to the corner and get me a pack of cigarettes. Get those kind your mother don’t like. And listen, before you go, there’s something I want to say to you, Sonny Boy. You're all I got in the world. If all my friends forsake me, I'll still have you. You're my heaven on earth, Sonny Boy, the silver lining of my clouded life. At night when I come home and hear your little feet go pitter-patter across the floor, I know the angels must have sent you down here on earth to make this a paradise. Yes, Sonny Boy, if the house burned down tonight, and I lost my job, and mother lost hers, and blue skies turned to gray skies, why, Sonny Boy, I'd still be the happiest man in all the world because I still have you. Rapio Drama The balcony scene from “Romeo and Juliet.” So I wouldn't want nothing to happen to you, Sonny Boy. No, I wouldn’t want nothing terrible to happen to you—and that’s why I’m giving you a straight tip to bring me thirty-five cents change, and not try to gyp me out of a nickel for an ice-cream cone like you did that time two months ago. But I guess you won't forget that tanning for a long time, will you? Now step on it, angel child of mine!” Mooern Revision: What the Lord giveth, the instalment man taketh away. comicbooks.com