Life, 1894-03-01 · page 13 of 16
Life — March 1, 1894 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains social satire targeting American domestic life and class anxieties. **"Could It Be?"** — A poem by Harry Romaine mocking young engaged couples who idealize marriage while observing "stupid married folks" like the Major and Aunt Kate, worrying they'll become equally dull and irritable. The satire suggests romantic naïveté about marriage's reality. **"A Lady and Her Hopes"** — A Socratic dialogue (signed E.S.M.) critiquing American wealthy women's dependence on household servants. It argues that because good domestic help is scarce and housework seems unattractive, American ladies either need to: hire from unemployed surplus women (shop-girls, clerks, typewriters), simplify their luxurious lifestyles, or—satirically—accept that affluent Americans will increasingly be "born and die in a hotel," outsourcing domestic life entirely. **"Eastern Jealousy"** — A dialect cartoon showing Western rural resentment toward Eastern sophistication, joking that Colorado's "rain makers" pale compared to New York's "Clearing House." The page reflects Gilded Age anxieties: servant shortages, women's limited employment options, and regional tensions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE: COULD IT BE? ILL you and I grow like the rest Of stupid married folks ? Will love's sweet savor lose its zest ? Is happiness a hoax ? There is the Major and his wife, And Uncle and Aunt Kate? Could we be like them ? Whata life! Perhaps we'd better wait. Oh, Will, could ever you and I Grow stuffy, mean and old? And could my voice grow shrilland high? And could you swear and scold, And throw out spiteful little flings ? Oh, dear ! it’s not too late ! If we could do such horrid things, Perhaps we'd better wait. It breaks my heart ; I tell you, Will, Let's always be engaged, And then we'll love each other till Our hearts are worn and aged ; For married people don't reflect Much credit on their state ! They show us what we may expect, Unless—unless we wait! Harry Romaine, A LADY AND HER HOPES. ND here we have— ? An American lady and her hopes of happiness. Why, they are hired-girls, aren't they ? That is what they are. And do they really constitute her hopes of happiness ? She cannot have much fun unless they are kind to her and do their work well. But all American servants are arbitrary and inefficient, are they not; and all American ladies are always in the depths of woe? Oh, not always. Then, possibly, there are some helpful servants even in the United States ? Lots of them—though, apparently, not quite enough to go around, But there are surplus females in other walks of life, are there not? Yes, there are lots of surplus shop-girls, typewriters, clerks, and ornamental persons of various sorts. 141 And cannot housemaids be recruited from this unemployed surplus ? Housework, at present, is hardly attractive enough for that. But couldn’t it be made so? That is a problem very fit for American ladies to consider. And if they do, and cannot solve it, what then ? Then it certainly behooves them to cultivate fewer wants and simpler habits of life, since, without good servants, the burdens of luxury are intolerable. And is there no other alternative ? There is one at least, the popularity of which appears in the increasing probability that the coming American will be born and die in a hotel. ELS. M. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. The Serio-Comic Spectacle, YOUNG MILLION’S VICTORY; or, ART IN ADVERTISING. By the Boxholders of this Theatre, The Boxholders will not be labeled, as the program renders it unnecessary. There will also be a performance on the stage. EASTERN JEALOUSY. “Wa'LL, NOW, IF THAT DON'T BEAT ALL, I'VE JIST BEEN READIN’ ABOUT THEM COLORADO RAIN MAKERS, AND NOW I SEE THEY'VE GOT A CLEARING House in New York." comicbooks.com