Life — May 27, 1909 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Matrimony and Trained Nurses" - Life Magazine Satire This page satirizes marriages between prominent men and trained nurses. The top cartoon shows storks (symbolizing babies/marriage) with the caption "What are you doing with that thing? Playing I'm the stork" — a joke about nurses becoming wives rather than caregivers. The article mocks men who marry nurses, suggesting it's cheaper than paying a nurse's salary. It argues trained nurses make poor wives because they're accustomed to command, create household disorder, run expensive establishments, and lack the "necessary attributes" for domestic life. The lower photograph titled "The Missing Link" appears to show a wedding scene, likely illustrating an actual such marriage. The satire reflects early 20th-century anxieties about changing gender roles as women entered professional nursing.