Life, 1929-05-17 · page 28 of 52
Life — May 17, 1929 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the restlessness and indecision of tourists and out-of-towners visiting New York City on Sundays. The humor targets the contradiction that visitors feel compelled to do something "different" than their hometowns offer, yet struggle to find worthwhile activities. The satire includes barbed jabs at specific destinations: Wall Street as a "deserted village," a joke about seeing Mabel Walker Willebrandt's statue in the harbor (unclear reference, likely a political figure), and a dismissive comment about real-estate buses encouraging impulse lot purchases. The "Local Color" section mocks Harlem's Sunday dress parade as superior to Fifth Avenue's Easter display—likely expressing the magazine's mid-1920s cultural attitudes. The cartoon illustration of "Paradise Garden" promotes back-to-soil movement ideology, a period concern about industrialization. Overall, the page gently ridicules tourist confusion while offering tongue-in-cheek suggestions for spending Sundays in Manhattan.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Sunday in New York UN DAY isthe day of restlessness when three quarters of New York takes to the open road... the other quar- ter sleeps... this leaves the city to the mil- lion odd visi- tors seques- tered here and gives them a litde breathing space but the trouble is they don’t know what to do with the m- selves . . . there are movies, ball games and museums to go to, even churches, but these things they have in their own home towns and when they come to Manhattan they must be “different” «++ however, for the hardy out-of- towner who likes to go places and do things, there are quite a few side shows. The Deserted Village Take a taxi, or subway down to Wall Street... this section is prac- tically deserted on Sundays and it is a strange sensation to wander through its empty canyons . walk down to the Battery and along the water front...if a short ocean voy- age appeals to you “I like Harrison Fisher better’’. take the ferry to Staten Island ... it will give you a good chance to see the statue of Mabel Walker Wille- brandt standing in the harbor. Lots for Nothing If you like bus riding, a very eco- nomical way of getting fresh air is to look up the Realtor ads in the Sunday papers and take a trip out to Long Is- land in a free Real Estate bus... however be careful not to let your con- science twit you into buying a lot. Movement. * Airways Cricket Did you ever sce a game of cricket? + ++ you will find several going on in Central Park played by East In- dians . . . also Soc- cer, Baseball, Cro- quet and many other sports Local Color For a real kick take a run up to Harlem and view the Sun- day dress pa- rade... it makes Easter Sun- day on Fifth Ave. look like a Nunnery. There’s a broken purse for every window on Wall Street. Around the Town If you like skylines take the sight seeing boat that goes around Manhat tan Island . . . or if you want to look down on New York take a Manhattan sightseeing aeroplane . . . busses leave the Waldorf and take you direct to the flying field. | Man | See top hi late | young \to? . jin fo Jose t Madis ed to by Jos ball a Fifth sten I lteur fi comicbooks.com