Life, 1929-04-19 · page 45 of 52
Life — April 19, 1929 — page 45: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**"The Veteran Motorist Buys a Baby Carriage"** is a humorous dialogue satirizing how 1920s automobile culture had infiltrated everyday life. A car salesman pitches a baby buggy using automotive language—"sport model," "streamlines," "four wheel brakes," "wire wheels," "low spring suspension." The joke is that this ordinary product is being marketed with automobile specifications and luxury features (mentioning wealthy "Biltmore babies"). The punchline: the customer asks for a trade-in allowance on his old 1924 baby carriage—treating it exactly like a used car, complete with mileage ("ten or twelve miles") and condition reports. This reflects the 1920s obsession with cars as status symbols and the period's consumerist mindset of trading up constantly. The **Fatima cigarettes advertisement** features cherubs/cupids in classical style—a common advertising approach claiming product sophistication and quality through aesthetic imagery. The bottom **Dr. Seuss cartoon** (identifiable by the artist's signature) is a whimsical, unrelated humorous illustration about a moth in a king's beard.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Veteran Motorist Buys A Baby Carriage! “Good morning, sir, can I interest you in a baby buggy?” “Well, I'm sort of looking around. Haven't made up my mind, as yet. Got anything in a sport model with stream lines and four wheel brakes?” “Our Model X, sir, the niftiest job in the business. Wire wheels, solid walnut’ body. Takes any curb in hb ‘o, | wanted something bigger. You sec, there are twins. . . .” “Oh, then you want our special body uwin-six. Here’s a model that’s years ahead of the times. You can use it again and again. It'll be as stylish ten years from now as it is today. Look at the leg room. And here’s a rumble seat if your wife wants to carry home bundles. Low spring suspension, low centre of gravity. Can't tip over, no matter how much the babies wriggle.” “Well, I don’t know... .” “Take my word for it, there isn’t a better buy in the country. Look at this waterproof compartment for bot- tles. Look at this safety strap, a special feature with our phactons. Why, all the Biltmore babies were brought up in these buggies. They get away like greased lightning. They pick up with a zip! Man, there isn’t a sweeter running thing on wheels.” “What's the price, you say?” “Fifty dollars, complete, and I can have one in front of your house in an hour.” “It seems okay but [I want to ask you one more thing before I give the order. I've got a nineteen twenty-four model single passenger baby carriage down in the cellar. It’s as good as new. Hasn't gone over ten or twelve miles. In perfect running condition. Equipped with reversible sun shield. T want you to sharpen up your pen- al and let me know how much you'll allow on a trade in.” Arthur L. Lippmann. MR. PIPP By Charles Dana Gibson Started in the February 8 issue of LIFE. Back copies containing the series 1 to 10 may be obtained at 1oc a copy by addressing LIFE PUBLISHING CO,, 598 Madison Ave., New. York. and what a whale of a difference just a few cents make A definite extra price for a definite extra tobacco-goodness atima_ CIGARETTES Liccrrt & Mytas Tosacco Co, “Egad! A moth in his Majesty’s whiskers! What ho, vassal, the Flit!” —Advt comicbooks.com