Life, 1904-06-02 · page 15 of 50
Life — June 2, 1904 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising and editorial content** rather than political satire. The main feature is "Wide Open," a lengthy essay by Professor Herbert J. Davenport criticizing women's vanity and conspicuous consumption. Davenport argues that fashion dictates—corsets, bustles, elaborate dress codes—are wasteful, financially ruinous, and reduce women to poverty-stricken shame despite wealth. The piece attacks how "novelty" drives spending cycles, with fashions constantly changing, leaving previous purchases obsolete and shameful. The illustration shows a formal social gathering, likely depicting the women's fashions Davenport critiques. The remainder of the page contains **commercial advertisements**: the Angelus piano (emphasizing its "phrasing lever" for musical expression), a "Wanted for Cash" literary notice, and motor boats. This represents typical Life magazine content mixing social commentary with advertising—no specific political cartoon or identifiable caricatures appear on this page.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Wide Open. wre gamblers all for wealth unearned, Both those who win and fail, Jerome should raid the wide, wide world, And land us all in jail. The latest person to deplore and denour the y and ostentation of women is rt J. Davenport, of Chicago he force that wheels the babies nappreciated glory of g ms, ges, Mr. Davenport, “denies to ren the right to go barefoot that the par- may not be ashamed. For a like reason it 1 in their Sunday clothes, when they er and healthier in dirty; determines ge preparations and imposes the at- jant donation party; determines the quality oi our dress goods, the name of our tailor, the ur collars, the shape of our shoes, the of our beard; prescribes for women— wings on her shoulders, and again, for corative purposes, bustles, humps, and illoons, the straight front, the baggy waist, the tortured walk; empties our pocketbooks in der that our wardrobes may be filled with ex- arments; makes half our garments ble when not y ¢ ashamed of our poverty, and yet allows no joy of our riches; and when all the riness is done buries us in one final crash | blare of ostentatious effrontery. We waste r wealth. That which was once comfort has me privation by comparison. The cloth t once went with elegance is now the badge verty; the cheaper would answer our pur- well if only others had not the ndor, no matter how much it has is not splendor when it has become gen- rial progress, in the way in which se it, mostl. ncels itself recedence, and leaves behind it weariness, dis- atworn; compels us a strife for sionment, and envy; our energies are wasted nd therefore fruitless ministry to may as well stand still as run in re measured by cramble and serab. nt for nothin i or graceful fashion, if once attained, cafe to stay. If grace and simplicity come as fashions, they go as fashions, The greed of novelty leaves the beautiful behind as anti- jnated, to be succeeded by the ugliness of and humps and wings. Furniture s in varicties of material and into new grotesquenesses of pattern; houses from all htmare in’ mis- ider of styles. From champagne to plumes slaughtered birds, from skunk-skins to jew- y. there is nothing permanent but novelty, tom but chang Wanted for Cash Reliable, up-to-date list of literary le who are interested’ in short-story writing. References re- quired and given, Address RESPONSIBLE, Rooms Yand 10, Fort Hill Building, Boston, Mass. sles in succession to a 31.50 erican THE UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES OF ENTERTAINMENT WITH THE ANGELUS Plainly each person has a different musical taste, and your guest who asks for “The Star Spangled Banner "’ or «* D ’ doesn’t wish to hear Chopin's Funeral March. Probably he loves the stirring swing of these grand old airs when they are well played. Another time, when you are delighting different listeners with Beethoven, Brahms, or Mozart, you want simple but perfect control of the key board of your piano. You want an instrument which literally responds to every thought—which permits you to give an artistic interpretation of any composer's music—to shade it, to phrase it, to color it, to reproduce it with undiminished richness, Wouldn't you like to besuch a royally good “Entertainment Committee of One?” You can be, but you must have the perfect assistant, THE ANGELUS—not a coun- terfeit, What gives THE ANGELUS its last and conclusive proof of superiority is The Phrasing Lever Our agents are in every big town or dity, We will gladly mail, free, the address of the nearest one and a handsome booklet describing THE ANGELUS and iis wonderful Phrasing Lever, THE WILCOX & WHITE CO. Established 1876 MERIDEN, CONN., U. S. A. MOTOR BOATS| gu Auto Launches, Steam and Sail Yachts, Row Coats, Canoes for SPEED, PLEASURE, BUSINESS. BEAUTIFUL, RELIABLE, ECONOMICAL, SIMPLE, SAFE Our tepase caialog gives hin detail about the lest and cheapest Built. ‘Agencice In all principal citkes. Write to: Address day. RACINE BOAT MFG, CO., Box 102, Muskegon, Mich comicbooks.com