Life, 1929-02-22 · page 20 of 36
Life — February 22, 1929 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains international news briefs lampooning various governments and social trends circa the 1920s-30s: **Moscow items** mock Soviet censorship (rejecting 393 American films as "bourgeois"), the ban on professional wrestling as "arousing wild instincts," and a political purge against a Communist Party member who married hundreds of women. **Cambridge** references a professor claiming young people drink cocktails to overcome shyness—satirized by the gasoline/fuel brand parody below, where absurdly named products substitute for actual gasoline. **London** jabs at Conservative Premier Baldwin's vague unemployment claims and Italian government's discount fares for emigrating citizens. **Stamboul** jokes about musicians being suppressed unless certified, sarcastically suggesting sending problematic saxophone players there. **Poland's** rabbi's daughter kissed 7,000 wedding guests in four hours—an absurdist human-interest story. The **illustrated cartoon** ("I shot an arrow into the air") appears unrelated, showing figures outdoors. The humor targets authoritarian overreach, propaganda, and bureaucratic absurdity across Europe.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
CAMBRIDGE, — England. — Cocktail MOSCOW .—The chief repertoire com- | MOSCOW.—A Mr. Schwartz of this drinking is a pernicious habit, especially mittee has rejected 393 American films, as| city was recentty arrainged in the Moscow for young people of either sex, according unfit for Soviet citizens on account of their | High Court on a charge of “having abused to Prof. W. E. Dixon of the university | bourgeois ideology, adventure and mys-|his position as a member of the Com- here. “Young people drink cocktails partly to lose their shyness and partly in a spirit of bravado,” says Dixon. | “Gimme five gallons of gasoline.” ‘Sorry, but we don’t handle gasoline, Mister | —we got Motoreze, Mile-a-min’ High Test Speedit, Benzorolino, Green, Blue and Orange Roadzip, and Aviation Petrol. Which do you prefer?” MOSCOW—Professional wrestling has been barred because the exhibitions “arouse wild instincts.” Yeah, and singing “Faw Down and Go Boom” ought to be | barred for the same reason. LL LONDON.—The Conservatives cheered Premier Baldwin after his announcement that unemployment in England is decreas- | ing. The Laborites asked him what his authority was, but the Premier refused to divulge any details. Anyway, it was a good idea, a ROME.—The Italian Government has just completed arrangements with their steamship lines whereby Italian citizens wishing to return home are offered a 50 per cent. reduction from the full fare. /f ucism. aL STAMBOUL.—The Stamboul Musi- cians Union, bent on reforming the music | of Turkey, has persuaded the municipality to suppress all musicians unless they hold certificates attesting their ability. What to do with our saxaphone players, send them to Turkey. JL TECSOC, Poland—It is traditional here for a bride to kiss every guest at her wed- ding. There were 7,000 guests at the nup- tials of a rabbi’s daughter recently, and | the bride kissed every one of them. The | job took 4 hours. this idea should extend to Scotland we! won't have a Scot in the country! ‘ munist party and therefore brought the Soviet government into contempt.” He married several hundred wives in eighteen months. More than 150 of them agreed to give evidence against him. aL ROME.—The National Confederation of Farmers has decided to nominate Premier Mussolini at the head of its list of candidates for the new Chamber of Deputies. They'd better. aL LONDON.—Residents of New Conis- borough, a mining village near Doncaster, could have saved a lot of money by not having locks put on doors when they built their homes. Every door lock in the village can be opened with one key. “I shot an arrow into the air.” you hen, or yc coul ut n comicbooks.com