Life, 1905-11-02 · page 44 of 48
Life — November 2, 1905 — page 44: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page mixes advertising with editorial content and satirical poetry. **"The Great Essential"** is a satirical poem mocking the era's obsession with advertising. It references Julius Caesar and argues that even noble pursuits (merchant work, philanthropy, statesmanship) require self-promotion to succeed. The poem's joke is that in modern times, mere virtue isn't enough—you must advertise yourself to matter. **"Horse Docking"** is a serious letter to the editor condemning the practice of docking horses' tails (a cosmetic procedure causing animal suffering). The writer proposes severe punishment: standing exposed to flies with hands tied. Though harsh-sounding, this appears sincere advocacy for animal welfare, contrasting with the satirical tone above. The page also contains advertisements for **Standard plumbing fixtures** and toilet products, typical of early 1900s Life magazine's mixed editorial-advertising format. The juxtaposition creates irony: while the poem satirizes hollow self-promotion, the horse-docking letter demonstrates genuine moral conviction—suggesting authentic principles still matter despite the advertising age.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Great Essential. LD Julius Casar was a shrewd Assure Health and Congert sie sccted Ma cee cere in your home by inst So wrote it up himself, l IN “ True courage ought to makea hit," He said in accents wise, But if you want the berefit, rs ” You've got to advertise.” The merchant, the philanthropist, ff ‘The statesman and the sage Take care their names are never missed PORCELAIN ENAMELED ; From fame's swift turning page The truly simple Simple Life Baths & One-Piece ) never-win a piles, To be a hero in the strife, Lavatories You've got to advert “Standard Horse Docking. DITOR NEW YORK HERALD: Perhaps the meanest, the most contempt 5 velor ble crime that men and women have shown ment of ideal home-making is themselves capable of is horse docking. In founded on health, and “Stardant” several American States this crime is p' Baths and One-Piece Lavatories able with a hundred-dollar fine. But evil loves m are conducive of good health, the dark places, and the ugiv deed is done in as they are sanitarily perfect. secret and seldom it is that the fine is imposed e They have the smoothness A Western editor, writing on the subject, and snowy purity of china gives vent to his righteous indignation snd Sndsthedsuength. of ion: ys: “Every man that docks a horse I Their surface isinon-porous be compelled to stand in unprotected con er pate lerctis and tion upon a molasses barrel where flies are 5 ee; swarming and his hands tied behind his back.” crevicesyin awhich: dirtlor, We horse-lovers feel that this judgment, severe germs may lodge. as it is, is only a just one on those who will | doom a willing friend and helper to such need Our 100-page Book, ) less misery, leaving him a helpless prey to “MODERN BATHROOMS” eager, stinging flies and gnats—a torment that illustrates many beautiful ends not, down through the long years to the and Inexpensive as well as bitter end of the animal's hard worked old luxurious bathrooms, show- Ie ahetcoar al cach iisture when, passing from owner to owner, from in detail, together with many worse to worse, to scantier fare and worse kept ints of ‘decoration, tiling, stall, until broken in body and spirit and sold etc. FREE for six cents for a pittance death tardily comes to claim for postage. | its rest its too willing victim. Docking in England is excused on the plea that there are no flies in England! [have driven in England when not hundreds, but ixtures are necessary to the modern home because the rapid develop- CAUTION—Every piece of “Stavdan” ware bears our “Stardard™ The above fixture is No. P-S00-T, “Green and Gold” guarantee label, and has our trade-mark costing approximately $50.00 at “Standar™cast on the outside. Unless the label and trade-mark : as F fi not counting piping and = are on the fixture it is not “Stavdard” ware, Substitutes are in- thousands of gnats and flies swarmed about ferior and will cost you more in the end. A) | the horse, and how about the horses docked | in England, and sent out for army service te Standard Sanitary Mfg. Co. Dept. £2 PITTSBURGH, U.S. A. fly-infested lands, and others sent down to stip Offices and Showrooms in New York: “Stesdanf” Building. 35-37 West 31st Street. London, England, 22 Holborn Viaduct, E. C. labor ply the demand in Italy and on the Contin For so mean a crime as cruelty in any form there is no defence. In dealing with depend ents, be they human or of the lower order our standard should be, not expediency but creat “Noblesse Oblige.” Trieste, September 12, 1905. Her Fall Outfit. TAM es ilive Reliet mee S. MUCHWEDDE: I saw Mrs. Friv- CHAPPED HANDS, CHAFING vles to-day and she had a new bonnet a trea, Sd dct Tentutime: So? 4 ” and a-new fall coat nd 10 a, for samples of all four preparati 0 ? . ; The ena Jegus Cou, Sole U es Clas fe) Gerhard Mennen Company, - Newark, N. J. s; and a lovely new husband."—Phila- delphia Post, comicbooks.com