Life, 1929-04-12 · page 25 of 44
Life — April 12, 1929 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1920s *Life* magazine page satirizes Manhattan leisure and entertainment during Prohibition. The cartoons and text offer social commentary on rainy-day activities for affluent New Yorkers. **Key Content:** The "Dive Inn" section humorously suggests indoor swimming pools as speakeasy venues—combining Prohibition-era illegal drinking with recreation. The reference to "bootlegger" emphasizes speakeasies' illegal status. "Pop!" describes the Jack-in-the-Box, a fashionable speakeasy in an office building's top floor, accessible via elevator—a clever hidden location to evade law enforcement. The "100 Years Ago" section mocks social progress by contrasting 1820s concerns (women's dress hooks, debutantes painting on velvet) with modern decadence, implying little genuine advancement. "Manna-About-Town" gossip covers nightclub performers, socialite Belle Livingston, and Broadway street con artists selling dancing dolls with hidden puppet-masters—metaphorically critiquing urban deception. The cartoons depict well-dressed New Yorkers enjoying museums, restaurants, and nightlife, celebrating the era's sophisticated urban leisure culture.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
New York Life So what todoona rainy afternoon. Dive Inn SWIMMING pool is the place A on a rainy afternoon if you have { a damp nature ... why doesn’t some bright bootlegger open a swim- ming pool speakeasy? . . . think of sit- ting beside a nice, cool highball beside a nice, cool pool beside a nice, cool girl in a nice, cool bathing suit . .. all right I'll stop... then there are the Mu- seums, but if you're a New Yorker you Sceing the sights. probably don't know that... for instance there is the Metropoli- tan on Fifth Ave- nue at 85th, or the Museum of Natural History on 77th—both de- lightful places on wet days... or, if you're not artis- tically inclined, go auto-shopping, or subway riding, or have your picture taken at the Photomaton or... go to work. Pop! Speaking of speakeasies, the Jack-in-the-Box in the Forties is one of the latest ++. it is located on the top floor of an office build- ing and the elevator lands you right smack in the center of it... when the door opens there you are in front of a beautiful bar . all around the elevator- shaft are small tables and chairs . . . don’t ask for Pop in the Jack-in-the-Box! 100 Years Ago An Art School has been opened that will teach our young debutants how to paint on velvet... the girlies are using hooks now to hold up their dresses while crossing slushy streets... what is the younger genera- tion coming to? ... the Washington Mail Coaches are a day or more behind sched- ule... M. Finn is conducting a Fancy Glass Working Ex- hibition at 202 Bow- ery... the magnifi- cent new hotel, the U. S., has been opened at 180 Pearl Street... names of AGrand Central Pastime. young men of well-to-do families will be released if mashing doesn’t stop after nightfall. Manna-About-Town Georgie Olsen is back at the Rich- man with his boys playing “Valencia”, some new acts, and a trio of Russian singers that are wows . .. the latest thing . . . “Bail” parties . . . throwa party at so much a head to get a friend out of jail . . . Belle Livingston, the “Belle of Bohemia” is working on a new book to be called “With Living- ston in Darkest America”... sign seen by friend sojourning in a hotel in Arizona near the Mexican Border— HOTEL NACO—BULLET PROOF ROOMS .... the crowd that used to haunt the Plaza Movie are now going to the Carnegie Playhouse .. . the roof of the Equitable building is thronged every noon with promenaders + + + get the low-down on the Broad- way fakirs that sell dancing dolls . . watch for the innocent bystander who stands nearby against a wall watching the exhibition nonchalantly .. . look be- hind his back and you will see that he is the dirty snake-in-the-grass that is manipulating the dolls with wires. comicbooks.com