Life, 1929-03-22 · page 34 of 36
Life — March 22, 1929 — page 34: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon satirizes social awkwardness: a formally dressed man arriving home at 8 A.M. in a tuxedo encounters neighbors, creating embarrassment. The joke's point is captured in the caption: to appear nonchalant, he should "light a Murad" (cigarette). The implication is that smoking provides a convenient social prop to mask discomfort—a casual gesture suggesting he belongs there despite the suspicious timing and formal dress. This reflects early 20th-century attitudes where cigarettes functioned as social lubricants. The phrase "[they] taste just like they did 20 years ago" advertises product consistency. The page also includes reader letters praising *Life* magazine's quality and reach (notably one describing an airmail pilot dropping copies to isolated forest rangers), along with an unrelated Charles Dana Gibson cartoon and Abbott's Bitters advertisement.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
EMBARRASSING MOMENTS When arriving home in San Francisco, Cal Dear Life:— LIFE is appreciated when one of our the suburbs at 8 A. M. Tuxeclad... pilots, Art Starbuck, throws a copy down to the forest ranger at China Mountain lookout station in the Siski be nonchalant... LIGHT A MURAD. yous) China Mountain, sation 13 t0¢ 000 feet above sea level, and about forty miles from habitation. Starbuck's job is flying the air mail between San [TWeY TASTE gust LiKe THEY O10 20 YEARS Ago! Francisco and Medford (Oregon) on the Pacific coast route of Pacific Air Transport. He reads Lire himself, and feels that no one else needs it more than the lonely ranger who happens to live directly under his course. Our pilot has practised this till he can plant the magazine right in front of the cabin door. Very truly yours, Blaine Stubblefield, Traffic Department. Dear Life:— Effective immediately change ad. dress on LIFE. now coming to Floyd B. Logan, 323 West Gumpper Ave- nue, Fort Wayne, Ind., to Floyd B. Logan, 2737 Hoagland Avenue, For Wayne, Ind. Incidentally, our copy of LIFE is read by from ten to twelve persons— out of nine or ten other magazines (all good publications) nearly every guest’ selects LIFE first. I might name the others in order selected, but that is of no import when it is LIFE that leads! May I also place roses in the bud = vases for Robert Benchley and Harry | Evans? We enjoy the theater so much and are permitted to see so few pro- ductions (the road is not crowded this year) that Benchley’s reviews are of more worth to us than even a maga- zine editor can imagine. Sincerely, Floyd B. Logan. MR. PIPP By BITTERS | Charles Dana Gibson sein. Tableepoga te a . Started in the February 8 issue ass of Ginger Ale or 7 ; ; taing Wates, “A’Geed “Tonia . : of LIFE. Back copies containing and Palatable. 2 - the series 1 to 6 may be obtained pee at 10c a copy by addressing Sample of Bitters by mail 25 cts. |B LIFE PUBLISHING CO., Cc. W. ABBOTT & CO. 598 Madison Ave., New York. Baltimore, Md. “It's no use, George, I'm mad at you.” Tut Penton Press Co., Cleveland, 0. comicbooks.com