Life, 1909-07-22 · page 16 of 28
Life — July 22, 1909 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous sociological sketch satirizing the "porch hen"—a parasitic summer hotel fixture of the early 20th century. The article describes a female guest who arrives in June and lounges on hotel porches all summer, her primary occupation being gossip. She rises early to eavesdrop on younger guests, reads mail, watches bathing, eats heavily, and spends afternoons systematically cataloguing and spreading scandal about hotel patrons "with concerted movements." The satire mocks idle, wealthy women vacationing at resort hotels who contributed nothing but participated in destructive gossip. The small cartoon "The Worm Will Turn" at page's bottom shows witty comeuppance: a barber insulted by a customer criticizing his thin hair responds by listing the customer's own physical flaws—the social commentary being that even the service class has limits to tolerating rudeness. Both pieces target specific social behaviors Life's readers would recognize.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Porch Hen porch hen is a creature indige- nous to the summer. In the win- ter she undoubtedly hibernates, gathering strength for her annual migration to the seashore. Stray porch hens may be seen on al- most every summer hotel piazza as carly as the first week in June. In the latter part of the month they become more numerous until, during the months of July and August, they collect in large groups Being gregarious, they are seldom scen alone, but it is quite common for them to range in pairs The chief occupation of the porch hen is to sit in rocking chair and while do ing light fancy work, pick to pieces every reputation that comes into sight Their habits, however, n s follows ay be described more minutely a The porch hen rises from seven to cight in the morning. She would rather sleep till nine, but by so doing she would be missing valuable time, and by getting into the dining room late, would not get as good a meal. After breaktast she goes about among the young girl guests of the hotel, this being the time when they are within reach, and finds out all the news of the day—who is coming, ete. She then reads her mail and the morning paper, and goes to the beach to watch the bathing. The porch hen never bathes hersel/. She would have to lock herself in for half an very time when something might ing on She follows the last bather back to the hotel and then enters the dining room, and stuffs herself for three-quarters of Then the real business of the day begins. At three o'clock she joins her group of other porch hens who have been sim ilarly engaged, and with concerted move- ments they proceed to lay bare every scandal, every possible proceeding on the part of every one remote or near, who is connected with the company whom they have under dissection. Nothing is omitted and naught set down save in malice. Along about five-thirty, when the porch hen has grouped, in the card index sys- hour at the worth seeing be go- an hour. tem that she calls her mind, all the in- formation obtained up to that moment, she hurries up stairs, makes her evening toilet, and once more descends upon her pr The porch hen is hungry. She is al- THE WORM WILL TURN Barber: youk MAI® S VERY THIN, SIR. Long Sufferer: ANO you've COT A BUMP ON YOUR NOSE, AND ONE OF YOUR EYES SQUINTS. comicbooks.com