Life, 1905-04-06 · page 23 of 62
Life — April 6, 1905 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two separate pieces satirizing Easter fashions and courtship rituals in late 19th-century America. **"Anthem" (left):** A humorous musical quartet where women obsess over their new Easter hats. The satire mocks feminine vanity and competitiveness—women bicker about hat prices and styles, with one admitting her expensive hat cost more than others'. The irony is framed as a religious "anthem," treating hat-purchasing with mock-solemnity, suggesting the secular materialism of Easter celebrations has replaced spiritual meaning. **"An Easter Maiden" (right):** Romantic poetry celebrating a woman's Easter outfit, accompanied by an illustration showing townspeople departing for Easter morning—people in formal dress near a church or gathering spot. The sentimental verse about "Corrina" and her ribbons, plumes, and gloves parodies the era's romanticization of fashionable women during holiday celebrations. Together, these pieces satirize how Easter had become primarily a fashion spectacle rather than religious observance, and how women's worth was judged by their appearance and material possessions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Anthem. <Itisa fright, a fright, a Soprano :—It isa joy unto the sight, b Basso :—Vou are a peach in your new hat Tenor :=Vs 4 Soprano st cost me cot my own thoughts as to that, sllto:—That's very queer ; that’s very queer, Quart O hear, O hear, O hear! Alto:—1 priced it myse Wohen it lay on the shelf, And I know, and I know That the price was quite low— Much lower than mine, indeed. deed! INDEED! indeed ! yu hateful old thi Soprano :—t Alto:—VNe Soprano :— 1o:—W's the style of last 55 Basco:—Hush, hush, Tenor :—Tush, tush t Soprano :—O very well, then VI If her hat is as nice as 1 ile >—Alas, 1 But my hat was the h Now 10 see y Quart I is joy Alto :—Such ti as yours are Soprano :—It's no such thing at all, So there! —Hush, hush, —Tush, tu :—And now let stillness soothe the air While arts are fre Soprano and Aito:—V lank you a Quart —(Crescendo) As it was in the t Is now and ever s World without Soprano :—Behold my new hat, Quartetie:—Her new hat, her new hat, her new hat, A ilver bells in gladness ring ; 1 hate or care— EASTER MORNING OUT OF TOWN, AYA GRLIFE HBE KS An Easter Maiden. IBBONS of dainty dye; Plumes to bewitch the eye; Laces of finest ply ; ver was Rose in a gare Rarer of hue than that In the dear Easter hat Worn by Corrina! Glamour of glow and gleam ; Glintas of rainbow-beam ; ptin dream, Boots and gloves buttoned 1 And in h sweet Voice with a Lips like the ont) Would I might hear her say On this fair Easter day, “Will you In the procession ?" join me, pra * join you, Corti Thus Vd my Gladly, 1 will confess hough doubts beset me ; “Join you? Why, know ‘tis true I would keep step with you Down Life's long If you'd but ci ir souls would sell comicbooks.com