Life, 1908-04-23 · page 23 of 24
Life — April 23, 1908 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a participatory satire on matrimonial matchmaking. Readers select which woman or man they'd hypothetically marry, then submit rhyming verses explaining their choice, competing for $200 prize money. The humor lies in the brutally frank character descriptions that reduce people to marriageability metrics: women are catalogued by wealth, temperament, and domestic utility (one is a "devotée of bridge," another "always late but has a warm heart"). Men are similarly reduced to occupational status and financial worth (a coffee merchant, a millionaire, an insurance company man). The satire targets both the superficiality of marriage markets and the materialistic calculations underlying courtship in the period. By inviting public judgment on these caricatures—and soliciting witty justifications—Life mocks how potential spouses were evaluated as commodities rather than as full human beings. The contest treats marriage selection as a lighthearted game while simultaneously exposing its transactional nature.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
od 1 2 3 4 5 Very high church. Rich, Generally amiable, but has Widow. No encumbrances Very fond of society. Break. $2,000 a year, unencum- uncle. Kind heart occasional fits of temper. Ex Gentle, loving disposition {invariably in bed. No bered. Fond of light fiction, table when crossed. —travagant. Fond of matinées $12,000 a year income. Eco dowry. Nervous. Wants to Very disorderly. Always late Devotée of bridge. No dowry. Rapid talker pomical be an actress, bat has a warm beart IF YOU HAD TO MARRY ONE OF THESE WOMEN, WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE? Life’s Marriage Contest. Two Hundred Dollars to Contes‘ ants HIS is a double contest, with two sets of prizes, one for men and the other for women. After selecting your life p. fill in the following lines, with the for your choi you are a woman, your answer In each case the answer to be in a f line verse which ends in any eight words given above tner, ons and return, with your name four of the Dear Millionaire, your health T know and address plainly written, to the Editor you ave aman and you May be, indeed, a cause for woe, of Lire, 17 West Thirty NewYork: Wie Mac tllowes In Spite of th A t mig! Quite sordidly to make thee mine. line . For the t three rhy in the me “Kind heart" is good enough for me, opinion ¢ o ‘will pay, in mine You are the one I'll wed. know Bridge player you can always be . wed By “Uncle’s” purse strings led. soe at noon, KKKEEREEEEEEEEE REE EEEA EEE EL IEE ELE EEE EL LEE ELLE LILLE LE EIL EER EE EEE EEE EER ERE IF YOU HAD TO MARRY ONE OF THESE MEN, WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE? # 7; 1 Lively wit. Amusing talker. “Seldom at_ home Cofiee merchant. Bold 3 Fairly good health. Retired from business. Domestic. Un: to three girls at same sympathetic, but soul of honor Income uacertain. Milbonaire. an insurance company is open freely to all who may desire to compete, without charge of consideration of any kind. Prospective pete for the prizes offered comicbooks.com