Life, 1929-07-26 · page 30 of 36
Life — July 26, 1929 — page 30: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page combines satirical editorial content with period advertisements, reflecting 1929 concerns about social decline and modern behavior. **"Mrs. Pep's Diary"** (upper right) satirizes wealthy society's deteriorating manners. It documents shocking behavior at a social dance: guests throwing champagne glasses in pools, guests driving cars across lawns. The diary voice—refined but exasperated—suggests that *good manners themselves* might become fashionable again simply because rudeness has become so extreme. The anecdotes about stolen hotel silverware and a cantankerous dinner guest reinforce the theme of general social breakdown. **The cartoon figure** ("The pipes of Pan," lower left) appears to reference Pan, the mythological pipe-player, though its exact satirical meaning is unclear from context alone. **Advertisements** for Squibb's Dental Cream and Absorbine Jr. occupy the remaining space, typical of Life's revenue model. Notably, the dental cream ad promotes smoking hygiene—advertising to smokers as an assumed readership without irony. The page overall reflects 1920s anxiety about post-WWI social disruption and "modern youth" abandoning Victorian propriety.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SPARKLE THAT LASTS THE sparkling freshness of Squibb’s Dental Cream makes your whole smoking day a lasting pleasure. From the very first puff, your favorite smoke will taste better and feel better. Because, Squibb’s, you know, contains over 50% Squibb’s Milk of Magnesia. It’s the tiny particles of this that seep into the out-of-way places in your mouth — neu- tralizing destructive acids — keeping your breath sweet— your smoke appetite keen and alive. Start using Squibb’s Dental Cream for your smoking’s sake. All drug stores sell Squibb’s at 40c a tube. © 1929 by FE. R. Squibb & Sons GUARD THE DANGER LINE Life Mrs. Pep's Diary (Continued from Page 11) duct, Milly Empsall having told me that various guests at her dance Saturday night had chucked their champagne glasses into the pool and that two of her daughter's contemporaries had driven their motors across the carefully cultivated sward, when the driveway was equally con- venient. So bad, in fact, is the social state of things that a renaissance of good manners may possibly arise from the sheer appeal of its novelty, and I do look hopefully forward to the day when our young men, who are now making a fetish of tail coats after twi- light, will extend their formality to placing cigarette ashes in their proper deposits, instead of on rugs and in vases filled with delicate flowers. Fifi Fidler for luncheon, and she told me how she had spied a spoon marked “Hotel Al- bemarle” amongst one of her guest’s flat silver last night, and how, lack- ing the smoker's first aid to nonchal- ance at the moment, she had made an effective story of buying it from the waiter for medicinal purposes only. She did also tell me of the cantanker- ous gentleman who announced that if dinner were not ready when he reached home, he would raise hell, and that if it were ready, he would not eat a bite. An early supper of eggs Florentine, chicken in aspic and vegetable salad, and so by motor to the country for the holiday, Sam extracting my prom- ise that I would not suspect all drivers coming towards us through the dark- ness of being intoxicated. “The pipes of Pan.” Sunburn will not spoil a minute of my vacation i utsperklitg ean beatadown=fricod, lyyet treacherous.....painful hours follow. Splash Absorbine, Jr. on the red, painful skin, You will find that it cools and soothes, instantly taking out all sore ness and inflammation. The next day only aslightly deepercoat of tanisthe re- minder of your day's sport. .... Prepare yourself witha bottletoday;haveitready topack in your bag. With Absorbine, Jr. you can face your holidays with the pleasant, satisfactory inward thought: “Sunburn will not spoil a minute of my vacation.” At All Druggists, $1.25 Send for Free Trial Bottle W.F. YOUNG, Inc., Springfield, Mass. comicbooks.com