Life, 1929-03-29 · page 11 of 36
Life — March 29, 1929 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes women's liberation and changing gender roles in what appears to be the 1920s era. The top cartoon shows Solomon's wives visiting his office unexpectedly, finding it in disarray—a visual joke about men's incompetence in domestic/professional spaces when women aren't managing them. Below, the poem "Independence, Limited" by B.Y. Williams mocks a "modern young woman" who claims independence, smokes, votes, and refuses domestic duties ("no time to sew buttons / On any man's coat"). The satirical twist: despite rejecting femininity, she still wants "a man's shoulder / For crying upon"—suggesting women can't truly escape traditional emotional dependence. The bottom cartoon shows two men in a wheat field; one asks "Huntin'?" The other replies "Nope—golfin'!" —apparently mocking upper-class leisure pursuits or masculine affectation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
S22, Nevertheless and notwithstanding, when Solomon's wives visited the office unexpectedly, this is what they found. Now that talkies are being made out there they call it Howly-wood. Independence, Limited I'm a modern young woman— The whole world can see That no masculine creature Can subjugate me. Idea for the ideal talking movie— Calvin Coolidge playing chess. I can earn my own money, | smoke and I vote; I've no time to sew buttons On any man’s coat. With man-made limitations And shackles I’m done. Who will dare to deny me My place in the sun? But—there’s one little weakness That will not begone: I still like a man’s shoulder For crying upon. B. Y. Williams, The Paramount Motion Picture Company needed a theme song for their production, “Redskin”. Among the contributions received from inde- pendent song writers was one entitled, “Redskin, Why Are You Blue.” Game warven: Huntin’? And they even say that a Scotchman invented the brief case. ABsENTMINDED Banker (to his love) Darling, let’s merge! “Nope—golfin'!” comicbooks.com