Life, 1909-03-18 · page 8 of 32
Life — March 18, 1909 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes early 20th-century marital advice and domestic instruction. The main illustration shows a whimsical aerial view of couples engaged in various activities—picnicking, flying, cycling—suggesting the "Young Husband Course" offered by the bureau. The text humorously instructs wives on deceiving their husbands about household incompetence. It advises women to hide cooking failures and financial ignorance while maintaining their husbands' confidence through calculated domesticity. The cartoon below features two gentlemen in top hats discussing a night out, with the caption suggesting one was unaware his wife went out—mocking the bureau's premise that wives should manage appearances. The satire targets both naive husbands and the commercialized "self-improvement" industry promising marital harmony through manufactured deception rather than honest communication.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Our Husbands’ Correspondence Bureau Remember, that one of the most difficult things for a husband to learn is, for example, just how he can lie to his wife without really being dishonest about it. We show you how you can do this. in only one lesson. We show you how you can retain all your conscience and self-respect and lie judiciously, grace- fully and absolutely, and make your wife love you all the more for it. You may not believe this, but when you know the secret you will be surprised how easy it is. Kind friend> My ‘grateful © being the home out of what nere pretense, time I began taking your course t, my wife knew everything I ‘ow, 1 could not look her in the face and deceive The result was that antly in hot water. Now, how- ever, all is changed. And the best of it all is, that, knowing I am lying only for her sake and to preserve the harmony of our home life, 1 ‘see that it is really a moral force, and this of course only adds to my deep ‘sense of benefits received. God bless and keep you in your grand work! In the Young Hush 1 Course we have a series of what we term Anticipations and Beginnings, most important for your future. ries of investigations and comparisons, we are enabled to tell all of the unexpected things that a woman will spring on her husband when he is completely off his guard. Think of what a help this is! For example, we have found by calculation that one woman in every in four weeks after the honeymoon is over, wanted to go where they went on their ten, wil never “18 CLANCY ANY BETTER—I DUNNO?” “YIS, HE WAS OUT AV IIS HEAD ALL NIGHT. RUT HE'S BACK IN AGAIN TIES MORNIN’. O'Haagan (whose air-craft has been demolished by a scorcher) : NEVER MIND, MARY ELLEN, Of HAVE THE BLAGCARD’S NUMBER! honeymoon at all, but really wanted to go to another place; that one woman in five has a sure cure for a cold, which has been handed down from her great- grandmother, and that one woman in two bursts into tears on the third Sun- day evening and wishes out loud that she was only back home with papa and mamma. We have also found out by scientific methods that every woman, within one week after she is married, always insists upon making for her husband with her own hands some special dish that she has learned to make at home. We tell how to anticipate this, how to ward off the attack, if necessary; in fact, just what to do in a given emergency. We show you how to act in the case of sponge cake, raised biscuits, apple pie, fudge or prune souffé. We prepare you so that you don’t have to cat any o! these things, and yet make your wife happy in the consciousness that you think she is a good cook. It may seem impossible for any one to do this, but we assure you that it can be done. Here is a testimonial: Dear sirs: How can a grateful patron thank you enough for what you have done? I have been married just three weeks to-day. Last night we entertained a party of friends, and my wife insisted upon making a welsh rab No one escaped but myself. That I am wel and hearty to-day is due entirely to your bureau. 1 inelose four dollars, for which please ‘send me your complete husband's manual. T shall tell all my friends, about Correspondence invited. All communi- cations are confidential. First come, first served. Corresronpence Scnoot rox Huspanps New York. comicbooks.com