Life, 1904-03-24 · page 9 of 20
Life — March 24, 1904 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This illustration satirizes married men's flirtation habits and social propriety. The cartoon shows three seated figures (a woman and two men) being addressed by a fourth man standing to the left. The accompanying letter humorously complains about a correspondent's wife flirting with others socially. The writer argues that flirtation among married people is "wicked" and suggests the chaperon (the seated woman, likely an older social supervisor) should monitor the young lady's behavior. The satire targets upper-class social conventions of the era, mocking both the husband's jealousy and the absurd expectation that chaperons could control adult behavior at social gatherings. The joke implies that flirtation, dancing, and socializing were common despite Victorian propriety claims—and that husbands' attempts to police wives' behavior were futile and ridiculous.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Copyright 1904 by Life Pultisning Ce. WE TALK on DaNce? ED. LET'S DANCES” A Letter to a Chaperon. DFAR MRS. HOUSE PARTY : I write to you as a matron of discretion and respon- sibility. If you find my wife flirting with anyone, tele- graph me at once ; please prepay the telegram. But don’t telegraph unless it is necessary, as I have to take a young lady out riding every day, and she really seems to need me. She wrote some very pretty verses to me. I think for married people to flirt is wicked; besides, they do it so well that it makes an unfair competition with girls. My wife says I can do whatever I like with the girls, but I think you had better not tell her about my young lady ; besides, her husband might hear about it, and husbands get so foolishly jealous. Tell my wife how necessary con- fidence is between married people, and don’t let her see any more men than you can help. Bolton Hall, P.S.—You might tell her flirtation is a social problem, and then she will have nothing to do with it—she hates social problems. VEN in good society we encounter still the high and the low: ( balls necks, high 5 finance, low < mora jin! { vitality on the level, little, except occasionally the handshake and here and there a game of bridge. comicbooks.com