Life — April 25, 1907 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page features a satirical illustration titled "Making Her Fortune" showing a woman with a child, surrounded by fortune-telling implements (cards, cups). The caption reads: "What is your fortune, my pretty maid?" / "My face is my fortune, sir," she said. This is a visual pun on the old nursery rhyme. The cartoon satirizes the common notion that a young woman's primary "fortune" or value lies in her physical appearance and marriageability rather than her intellect or skills. The fortune-telling setup suggests her only real asset being "read" or evaluated is her beauty. This reflects early 20th-century social commentary on women's limited economic opportunities and society's reduction of female worth to appearance and potential as a wife.