Life, 1898-04-02 · page 9 of 32
Life — April 2, 1898 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis: Life Magazine, Page 269 This page contains three distinct satirical pieces: 1. **"His Sacrifice"** (top): Shows a man at a table; the text describes Mr. Twickenham reluctantly agreeing to attend church on Easter Sunday with his wife—presented as a major marital compromise. The satire mocks how men viewed obligatory religious attendance as an onerous burden requiring their wives' persuasion. 2. **"Lengings"** (left): A poem by Tom Masson expressing romantic fantasies about leisure (yachts, mansions, servants)—satirizing escapist daydreams while acknowledging real-world limitations. 3. **"The Soul of Honor"** and **"A Good Record"** (bottom): Brief humorous anecdotes about social expectations and grammatical pedantry, typical of the magazine's short-form comedy. The illustrations feature F. Stanlaws's characteristic line drawings. The overall tone reflects early 20th-century American middle-class anxieties and gender dynamics.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Ro STANlaws Longings. "D love to glide upon the ocean, Had Ia yacht of steam Of such expensive locomotion Is what I fondly dream, I'd love to own a stud of hor: A thoroughbred, each ove— Aud round and round the swift race-courses Td love to see them run. I'd love ten mansions for Within, where’er I roar Thus incidentally providi My servants with a hon biding I'd love to have a paltry hundred Millions, more or less: ough, when Uncle Sam has blundered, To fleece him in distress. But one thing more fs there presented, To which my fancy clings: I'd love to have a mind contented, In spite of all these things. A Good Record. RIGGS: Was the Boston g when you proposed ? Gnices: Immensely. She in twenty minute said that traight talk I didn’t make one grammatical error. > LIFE: His Sacrifice. RECTANGULAR, solid, bepapered and somewhat consequential pack- age rested comfortably on the table in the hall of the Twicken hold. m house- A quiet atmosphere of eminent respectability hovered around it. No business announcement nor printed type UNDERwran.” vulgarized its exterior, the simple name and address, written in blue-black ink. indicating to the experienced eye that this must be the product of some well- entrenched and exclusive establishment far beyond the cheap necessity of extra: neous advertisement. Mrs. Twickenham was in his dressing- roomas Twickenham brouyht it upstairs, and turned her face upward that he might kiss h They had been married adecade. Tie kiss that Twickenham gave his wife was, therefore, ten years oid slightly worn at the ec moulded by time intoa fixed form. tempered by expos ure to domestic elements, and cons the law of mechanics. ly dear,” said Mrs. Twickenbam, ‘IT want you to church with me next Sunda; Itis Easter, you know, Twickenham was si lent, Experience had taught him that in adip- lomatic crisis it was better to allow the other side all the hempen limit of argument. “You may not realize it,” continued his wife, go to ‘SAY, YOUNG PELLEY. A KID IN SHORT PANTS 269 “but for six months now you have not stepped inside of a church with me. I could mention other husbands who, while they may be inwardly as indifferent as ‘ou to their own spiritual requirements, at least love and respect their wives cnough to give up a little of their own time for the sake of appearances, if for nothing more. It is seldom, indeed, that I you to make any sacrifice for my but Easter Sunday is one of the Sundays in ali the year when we should gotochurch, I am so glad that your clothes have come, for you cannot plead that as an excuse, Dear, please say that you will oblige me this once.” “My darling,” replied her husband, warily hit shade of suppressed excitement visible in his tone, ‘you donot. Tum sure, fully realize what youask. Lappreciate, allthat you id, and I will ) gotochurch with you on Easter Sunday on one condition,” ‘And what is that ¢” his wife asked, erly I will said Twickenham, as he cut the string of his package, opened the box, and held up to view his beautiful new bicycle suit, “if it rains.” howeve have s The Soul of Honor. e6 M Y cook has been with me three days. “Is she vu expected #” “Better, She las promised to. stay her week out.” rod a Tie proper study of womankind is the looking- glass. DAT'S A BIG RUM-BLOSSOM FER comicbooks.com