Life, 1904-01-14 · page 3 of 20
Life — January 14, 1904 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Main Illustration:** Shows two women on a sofa in an interior setting. The caption reads: "BIT, GRANDAMMA; I ASSURE YOU THERE'S NOT A WORD OF TRUTH IN IT!" / "WELL, I'M GLAD I GOT ALL MY LETTERS OFF BEFORE YOU TOLD ME." This depicts a younger woman reassuring an elderly grandmother about rumors or gossip—apparently too late, as the grandmother has already spread the story via correspondence. The humor relies on the timeless scenario of well-intentioned but ineffective damage control regarding rumors. **Below are three short satirical pieces** addressing contemporary social topics: "The Way of It" (advice on living frugally), "Controlling Herself" (marital negotiation), "Sport" (automobiles' advantages over horses), and "Reduced" (cutting social obligations for financial reasons). These vignettes mock middle-class social conventions and economic pressures of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“RUT, GRANDMAMMA, T ASSURE YoU THERE “WELL, I'M GLAD E GOT ALL MY LETTERS 01 The Way of It. IS hard to get along in life If Fortune smile or frown, For first you live your income up, ‘Then try to live it down. Controlling Herself. SHE : I want you to select the ring, dear. HE: But I thought you wanted to. “TI did. But I'm afraid we can't afford it.” Sport. "THe new French mode, of automobiles in trains, with a car for the family, another for the butler’s px , another for the wine cellar, ete., ete., certainly has dis- tinct advantages over that of the single machine : 1. Persons run over by a train of auto- mobiles are much less likely to survive, and dead men tell no tales, 2. Horses passed by a train, thus, may not so easily beguile their fears with the poTRUTIIN ITE ou ME thought that it is an optical illusion. But whether the sport increases as the number of automobiles en train, or as the square of the number, is something that has still to be worked out. Reduced. BMS Dingster doesn't seem to have as many friends as usual. Gricas: No. He tells me he has had to cut down his expenses. comicbooks.com