Life, 1909-12-23 · page 16 of 28
Life — December 23, 1909 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is satirical advertising for a fictional "Husbands' Correspondence Bureau"—a fake service claiming to teach men how to control their wives. The joke targets early 1900s gender dynamics and marital discord. The cartoon depicts a husband literally pulling two women (his wife and mother-in-law, apparently) in opposite directions, illustrating domestic conflict. The caption reads "Two dogs with but a single thought, two hearts that beat as one"—ironic commentary on marriage. The text mocks both husbands seeking male dominance and the commercialization of relationship advice. The gift presentation and testimonial parody self-help marketing while satirizing the era's assumption that husbands should be "monarch of all that he surveyed." The humor relies on: exaggerated masculine control fantasies, marriage stereotypes of that period, and absurdist business-speak. Modern readers should note this reflects genuine historical attitudes about male authority in marriage, presented mockingly through Life magazine's satirical lens.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ZB . Husbands’ Correspondence Bureau (No Connection With Any Other Establishment) Bae Saturday, while we were sitting in our private office absorbed in some of the vast matrimonial problems that are constantly presenting themselves, the door opened and a delegation of our customers appeared on the scene, bearing in front a magnificent silver cup as a Christmas gift. On the cup was tastefully and appropriately engraved that good old motto: “Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men,"* a phrase more truly symbolic of our profession than any other in the annals of literature. It is needless to say that we were overwhelmed, not only by the magnificence of this princely gift, but by the spirit of gratitude that prompted it. It was the result of spontaneous offerings from some of our best customers scattered all over the country. The gentleman who had been chosen the speaker for the occasion—one who was cured by our three months’ course, and has ever since had his wife completely under his control— made a speech that brought the tears to our eyes. He said that this happy Christmas season was one peculiarly appro- priate to show us their appreciation, as many homes through- out the land had been blessed by the good offices of the Hus- bands’ Correspondence Bureau, and that many a poor hus- band, who might be wandering around practically homeless, was now, thanks to us, monarch of all that he surveyed. He called attention to the wonderful cheapness of our course, con- sidering the benefits received, and hoped that all husbands who were having trouble of any kind would communicate with us before it was too late. He laid great stress on the fact that no husband could feel sccure, even if he had no unpleasantness in his home life, and that the only safe thing was for all to join the Bureau. A copy of his speech has been neatly printed and on receipt of ten cents will he sent by mail, together with a prospectus for the coming year. Or, for the small sum of one dollar, we will send an edition de luxe of our Galaxy of Beauties, together with the speech, the prospectus and the full pro- gramme of our entertainment committee, be sides one coupon in our Sceing-the-Tender- loin Automobile, which entitles the hearer to a free ride at ai hour of the day or night. This offer is good only for thirty days. We have never made such an offer be- fore, but this testimonial to THINGS ALWAYS SEEM WORSE AT NIGHT our humble efforis, together with the spirit of Christmas, have carried us completely off our feet. We advise everybody to take advantage of it before it is too late. We shall probably never repeat it To return to the speech, it is needless to say that it brought tears to our eyes, and for a moment we were so over- whelmed that we could frame no fitting words to reply. We managed to say, however, that we were too much overcome to do anything more than utter our heartfelt thanks for the wonderful gift, and to assure everybody, all reports from rival concerns to the contrary, that we should keep on the good work as long as we had health and strength. The cup now occupies a conspicuous place in our office This leads us to call special attention to our Unique Christmas Course for husbands who feel the need at this se son of the year for something of this sort. Many a husband, who gets along all right with his wife the rest of the year, finds the burden too hard to bear at Chris Our course, briefly outlined, teaches you how to avoid all shopping expeditions, how to dispose of rela- tives, what to give your wife, and how to prevent her from presenting you with : anything whatsoever that you will have to use afterwards at a loss of self-respect. We don't go much on statistics, TWO DOGS WITH BUT A SINGLE THOUGHT. TWO HEARTS THAT BEAT AS ONE. comicbooks.com