Life, 1900-12-20 · page 3 of 22
Life — December 20, 1900 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 527 This page contains two distinct sections: **"A Question of Raiment"** (left): A cartoon showing two well-dressed men in business attire, one seated and one standing. The accompanying poem "My Chiffonier" by Edward W. Barnard humorously describes a bachelor's struggle with wardrobe storage, using the chiffonier (a type of dresser) as metaphor for life's accumulations. **"Society" section** (right): A satirical column mocking high-society social events and wealthy New York families (Van Damm, Dresta Kyll, O. Howe Vulg, Leeds Thegang). The writer ridicules their ostentatious displays—expensive jewelry, lavish dinners, and pretentious gatherings—while subtly critiquing their vapid social preoccupations and conspicuous consumption during what was likely the Gilded Age. The cartoon and text together lampoon contemporary American class anxieties and material excess.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A QUESTION OF RAIMENT. ir Tus, My Chiffonier. Y chiffonier, so dear to me In bachelor days, won Dorothy : “This cubby-hole will take my ha The small drawer at the top—why, that Is just the place for gloves ! “You do not mind? Im Down here I'll keep my lingerie Veils he and so she schemed it at My chiffonier. At first I owned a corner wee For “rings and things,” but latterly My trunk’s my wardrobe's habitat, It holds not even a cravat urtesy) My chiffonier. Edward W, Barnard. wuy Not THIS? Society. Miss Sniftie Oldpoint came very near losing a front tooth the other day. She was alighting from her victoria and would have fallen had she not recovered herself in time. nd Mrs. Dressta Kyll made a good show on the avenue afternoon, ‘They both know their business. Her grand- BAND MRS. Van DAMM + PENNSE have gone to + Boston for a few days. They will be missed. Mrs. Van Damm Ex- mother on the Overload side pennse’s mother was one of the Baltimore Gaddings. it that Mrs. Kakklyn Henne is to give a series of afternoon teas in February. Her son Topleigh has changed his tailor. But that will not affect the teas. Rumor has a perfect Indy, And if she wasn’t, whose business is it, any The dinner at the Newe Butsolids on Thursday was a great affair. Everybody who is anybody was there. Mrs. on Klose was clad in pearls. The guests waded through dollars to the dining room. Mrs. 0. Howe Vulg never looked better, and Mrs. Leeds Thegang was resplendent in about four hundred thousand dollars worth ofjewels, She was just sweet.