Life, 1909-06-03 · page 20 of 56
Life — June 3, 1909 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks a Connecticut nudist camp called "Sunrise Park," operated by Dr. A. Sydney Higgins. The cartoon depicts a woman on a wave labeled "An Original Rough Rider"—likely a cheeky reference to Theodore Roosevelt's famous "Rough Riders," here repurposed as sexual innuendo. Life magazine's satire targets the camp's rules prohibiting visitors and requiring complete nudity (except in bad weather). The editors mock this prudishness, sarcastically suggesting husbands should send wives there, then arguing visitors should be allowed—implying the real appeal is voyeurism. They joke about trains needed to accommodate crowds. The piece also exploits ambiguity about Dr. Higgins' gender, suggesting that operating a women-only nude camp is suspicious. The final jab references classical artistic nudes to mock the camp's claims of health-focused purity. This reflects early-20th-century anxieties about nudism, sexual propriety, and changing social norms, presented through crude sexual humor typical of Life's satirical approach.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AN ORIGINAL ROUGH RIDER Sunrise Park Ahoy! IFE firmly believes that every good thing ought to be pushed along. With this object in view, we invite at- tention to Sunrise Park. Sunrise Park is in Connecticut, where the Puritan at- mosphere has rubbed itself off so much that no absurd or back- number notions will be longer tolerated. At any rate, Sun- rise Park is the home of a new movement which ought to be- come general. A. Sydney Higgins, M.D., of 11 Kingston avenue, Brook- lyn, is the responsible party, and issues invitations to come out and experience the joy of living the lust of life for life's sake, which exists only in a perfectly well body Dr. Higgins says in the circular: No garment of any kind is permitted at the camp except in in- clement. weather. ¢ important object of the camp. keeping the entire body bathed in air and sunshine, precludes the idea of visitors Now, here’s a chance for husbands. All you have to do is to ship your wife off to Sunrise Park for the summer, under Dr. Higgins. It won't cost you a cent for clothes And in the fall she will come back to you not only with abso- lutely nothing to wear, but with a healthy body, a coat of union tan and a sweet smile The idea of not allowing any visitors, however, seems alto- gether too modest. We think Dr. Higgins ought to permit them at least twice a week, on fine, clear days, when the camp guests are looking their very best We think we could guarantee enough visitors on these days to make it an object. Excursion trains could be run from New York. Indeed, we doubt very much whether any re- spectable railroad could begin to accommodate the crowds. There is one point which ought to be cleared up. Dr. Hig- gins doesn’t say whether he or she is a man or a woman. If he is a man, and has started his summer camp for “ Women and Girls Exclusively,” why should he necessarily keep the whole thing to himself? If he is a woman, why make this statement, which is in the circular: DROPPING THE PILOT—1912 y seem radical and are J to, but The ideas and routine what you have been accust as it appears, Why should such a camp be “fierce? We can think, off hand, and without much trying, of several rather famous pic- tures of nymphs bathing in brooks and disporting themselves on sunny banks, and shampooing one another and taking change from after all, it is not so fierce comicbooks.com