Life — July 22, 1909 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Husbands' Correspondence Bureau This satirical piece mocks a fictional service claiming to reform wayward husbands. The text claims their bureau has successfully improved husbands' behavior through correspondence with wives, using testimonials as "proof." The cartoon below, titled "(?) After the Ball," shows a silhouetted man being chased by children with umbrellas in the rain—suggesting chaos or misadventure following an evening out. The right illustration, "On a Saturday Night," depicts "Old Deacon Firefly" consistently taking "the corner lamp-post" (likely slang for drinking at a specific location), implying habitual misbehavior. The satire targets both the false advertising of "reform" services and the futility of trying to change husbands' established habits through mere correspondence—a commentary on marital frustration and masculine behavior circa early 1900s.