Life, 1897-11-04 · page 14 of 20
Life — November 4, 1897 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several satirical pieces typical of early 20th-century *Life* magazine: **"A Memory"** (poem by Carolyn Wells): A nostalgic lament about old-fashioned women's dresses that had functional pockets—a practical feature absent from contemporary fashionable gowns. The satire mocks both women's fashion's impracticality and the fashion industry's dismissal of utility. **"Color"** (joke): A pun about a manuscript becoming "local color" through getting dirty/soiled—mocking editors' vague critical demands. **"A Cochin Parade"** (cartoon): Depicts chickens parading, likely satirizing some contemporary trend or social pretension (unclear without more context). **"Society Notice"**: Mock-serious announcement of a wedding between colonials from New Guinea and South Africa, ending with the casual note "Both are colored"—satirizing how society pages ignore racial identity until the final reveal. **"Golf-Daft"**: Social commentary comparing golf enthusiasts to three frantic pigs, arguing golf's popularity is exaggerated and the craze should be "squelched" ironically "in its own interest."
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
378 A Memory. E OW dear to this heart are the old-fashioned dresses, When fond recollection presents them to view! In fancy I see the old wardrobes and presses Which held the loved gowns that in girlhood I knew. The widespreading mohair, the silk that hung by it; The straw-colored satin with trimmings of brown; The ruffled foulard, the pink organdy nigh it; But, oh! for the pocket that hung in each gown! The old-fashioned pocket, the obsolete pocket, The praiseworthy pocket that hung in each gown. That dear, roomy pocket I'd hail as a treasure, Could I but behold it in gowns of to-day; I'd find it the source of an exquisite pleasure, But all my modistes sternly answer me ‘* Nay!" ‘Twould be so convenient when going out shopping, 'Twould hold my small purchases coming from town; And always my purse or my kerchief I'm dropping— Oh, me! for the pocket that hung in my gown, The old-fashioned pocket, the obselete pocket, The praiseworthy pocket that hung in my gown. A gown with a pocket! How fondly I'd guard it! Each day ere I'd don it, I'd brush it with care; Not a full Paris costume could make me discard it, Though trimmed with the laces an Empress might wear. But I have no hope, for the fashion is banished ; The tear of regret will my fond visions drown; As fancy reverts to the days that have vanished, I sigh for the pocket that hung in my gown. The old-fashioned pocket, the obsolete pocket, The praiseworthy pocket that hung in my gown. Carolyn Wells. Color. 6¢N YOUR story,” remarked the Chicago editor, ‘lacks local color.” “It seems to be gaining in that respect,” rejoined the author, observing how soiled his manuscript had become. ‘4 COCHIN PARADE.” “LIFE: “PA, WHAT'S A SOPORIFIC 2?" “ANYTHING PREACHED ON SUNDAY, MY BOY." Society Notice. » « THE bride wore a dark camel hair loose skirt, trimmed with rare species of orchids. In her coiffure precious stones were displayed, and her neck was adorned with a beautiful string of ivory and pearls. She belongs to one of the oldest families of New Guinea, The groom holds an influential position in a South African mining district, where his family have resided for many years. . . . . Both are colored. INGO: I tell you, that boy of mine is a great athlete—plays football, baseball, tennis, golf, and rows equally well. “* Are you going to send him to college?” ‘What's the use?” Golf-Daft. ETWEEN fifty and fifty thousand contem- porary Americans are golf-mad. There is no doubt about the prevalence of the mania, but the number of the afflicted is hard to esti- mate. It is a case like that of the three little pigs, who jumped about so much that the child could not count them. The golfiacs, who are far gone in their delusion, straggle about so and enjoy such a vast publicity that they seem an army, whereas it may be they are only a squad, Golf can't last at the pace it is going now. It ought to be squelched in the interest of its own permanency. £6 A FTER all, what is a woman's in- tuition?” “Oh, nothing but a little way she has of learning things before she's taught them by experience.”