Life, 1903-01-15 · page 9 of 20
Life — January 15, 1903 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains health and exercise advice satirizing wealthy Americans' vanity during economic hardship. The "Health" section mocks millionaires and socialites pursuing elaborate fitness routines—using one-pound diamonds as dumbbells, wearing heavy tiaras for neck exercises, and performing chest exercises with Government bonds—suggesting they waste resources on frivolous self-improvement. The "Prosperity" section features a cartoon dialogue between a wealthy businessman and a waiter. When the businessman complains that living costs more now than eight years ago, the waiter—appearing frustrated by such obliviousness during economic depression—replies that "it's worth more to live now than in a time of depression," then sarcastically calls him a "whipped cur" for his ingratitude. The satire targets class indifference during economic crisis.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-LIFE:- 51 Health. OME of our millionaires and airesses are looking tired. They need our system of physical culture, Health and ruddy cheeks will be restored by following these few simple exercises: BICEPS. Take two one-pound diamonds, and holding them easily but firmly in the hands, swing them above the head ten times, then back until the hands meet, and then to the floor. Be careful and not use diamonds weighing over one pound. Too much weight will make tired muscles. K DEVELOPMENT. Placing your tiara firmly on your head, bend it forward until you are looking straight at a ten-pound pearl at your feet, then back until you are gazing at a three-pound ruby above your head, and then from one side to the other. Then swing your head slowly from side to side. If your neck aches in one minute, the tiara is too heavy for your strength. A tiara weighing over ten pounds should never be used. CHEST. Lying flat on your back, place a six-pound package of Government 4s on your chest, and by inbreathing raise it as far as possible. Do this forty times, and every day double the size and value of the bonds. CALVES, Hold two quarts of pigeon’s-blood rubies in each hand. Then raise yourself thirty times on your toes night and morning. At the end of a month increase to three quarts, Prosperity. W HEN a brutish, insolent fellow remarked that it cost more to live now than it had cost eight years ago, the Trust President lost his temper. “Isn't it worth more to live in a time of prosperity than in a time of depression?” he roared, The boor made no reply, but slunk away like a whipped READER res Tranny \ CHRISTIAN HEOTIAN = AP Smer 60 comicbooks.com