Life, 1900-12-20 · page 7 of 22
Life — December 20, 1900 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This satirical illustration depicts a family scene centered on a financial discussion about clothing allowances. A father ("Papa") sits with what appears to be his wife and children, with two additional figures standing in the background. The dialogue reveals the joke's premise: a child asks how much money they can spend on clothes in Paris, the father replies "a thousand do's" (likely "dollars"), and the mother warns the child not to "go about in rags." The satire targets parental anxiety about children's extravagant spending abroad, particularly regarding fashion. The illustration mocks both children's materialism and parents' inability to control their spending while traveling in Europe—a common concern for affluent American families of the early 20th century.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“WHEN 1 GET TO PARIS, PAPA, I WANT TO KNOW JUST HOW MUCH MONEY 1 CAN HAVE To BUY CLOTHES wiTH.” “WELL, MY DEAR, HOW WOULD, SAT, A THOUSAND Do??? “Now, PAPA. 1 KNOW YOU DON'T WANT ME TO GO AROUT in rage.”