Life, 1906-09-20 · page 10 of 28
Life — September 20, 1906 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two satirical cartoons about marriage and courtship conventions. **"The Magic Spell"** presents humorous "rules" for spelling reform and proper etiquette, attributed to various figures including "Haroun al Roosevelt" (likely Theodore Roosevelt). The jokes mock overly complicated English spelling rules and suggest simpler alternatives—typical turn-of-the-century humor about linguistic pedantry. **"Why They Married"** shows two contrasting couples with cynical captions. The left cartoon mocks a bride who "swore she never would wed" until opportunity arose. The right depicts a man marrying "behind his back" after a woman "turned his head"—satirizing how romantic entanglement overrides stated intentions. Both lampoon the gap between people's professed values and their actual behavior regarding marriage.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
310 Our Fresh Air Fund REVIOUSLY acknowledged .. K,G, D, J and E.. Edmund Young. Mrs. Edward M. Cope The Misses Wyeth and George Achelis. Total $4,530 56 A Wise Man ASHAWAY: I want you to meet Miss Hopper. Stunning girl. Just back from Europe. CLevertTon: Her first v “Ness! “Well, old man, if it’s all the same to you, I'll wait until she’s gotten through telling about it.” ROO: Darling, strange as it may seem, my love for you knows no bounds. ‘LEP EB? THE MAGIC SPELL (Faintly Reminiscent of Longfellow) AL ROOS! LT AROUN one day read \ Book wherein the Author said: “Why shoodn’t ‘kist’ and all the rest Be spelt fonctick like *possest ?* “In mercy’s name why shoodn’t we Remove the needless k from (k)nec, “Pull out the orthographic snarl From wurdz like (g)nat and (g)nome and (g)narl? “Why shoodn’t YOU revize the laws And be a marter to the kaws? “Say, ‘Never mind your Qs and Ps, But go ahead—spel az U pleez!” “O thou that swattest in the ear ‘The Trusts and all the Trusts hold dear, “The Nation leans upon thy cuff— Can Noah Webster call thy bluff ? WHY THEY MARRIED “O, take this lesson unto hart— Call Messrs. Locb and Bonaparte, “ And say to them in tones polite, ‘Rite rong in order to rite rite!’ “Put Dr. Johnson's rules aside And let Josh Billings be your gide. “Those syllables which spread dizeez Like vermiform appendices “Deserve the thoughtful surjun’s (k)nife And Brander Matthews’s ‘Simple Life.’ “Grate Sovereign, ’tis for thee to tel The safest, surest way to spel; “As Bernard Shaw may wel hav sed, “Be shure U're rong, then go ahed!? Haroun Al Roosevelt stopped to think— Tears trickled slowly in the ink. Wallace Irwin, YOUNG REBATE, JR, HAD A STACK, A SMOW GIRL ME DID WED. SME MARRIED 1M BEHIND MIS MACK, YOR SHE HAD TURNED MIS HEAD! THIS HAPPY YOUNG RIDE IS 4 GIRL WE ALL KNOW, WHO SWORE THAT SILKE NEVER WOULD WwED— WHEN SHE'D BEEN OUT OF SCHOOL BUT A FORTNIGHT OR so SHE ACCEPTAD ANSOGYNISE NPD! comicbooks.com