Life, 1910-01-06 · page 28 of 76
Life — January 6, 1910 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon:** A speeding car with passengers violates speed limits while one occupant nervously asks if they're going "rather fast." The driver reassures them they're only going "three times the speed limit"—satirizing reckless driving and the absurdity of breaking safety rules while claiming restraint. This reflects early automobile-era anxieties about dangerous driving. **"The Inner Truth":** Critiques women's fashion reform. While modern dress appears looser and more sensible than restrictive Victorian corsets, the text reveals the truth: women still wear tight corsets *underneath* the looser outer garments. The satire mocks the illusion of progress—women haven't actually gained comfort or freedom; they've merely hidden their constraint beneath fashionable appearances. **"A Yearly Visitor":** An essay using "birthday" as a metaphor for aging. It describes how people enthusiastically celebrate birthdays initially, then gradually dread them as they accumulate, secretly resenting the reminder of advancing age while maintaining polite pretense ("At home").
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
GOING RATHER F-F-PAST? "* “RLESS You! NO—THIS ISN'T MORE THAN THREE TIMES THE SPEED LamiT,”” The Inner Truth IS truly quite defensible that modern dress is sensible si We do ple charm , indeed, if Phi invidious Or view the line of beauty with a feeling of alarm. $s would make remarks A lady, to be fetching, seems no more a mass of stretching seams, But her appearance manifests a purpose that is sane; A rippling liquefaction is her clothing, not a fraction is Warped to a wasp-like waist line that we always have called vain Ah, no. Our observation goes—but not our information goes— To show us that a great reform affects the mode of dress The mystic style-producer makes the dresses all of looser akes That give the waist a clever sort of artless grace uIness. BUT! Don't you be deceived thereby. The ladies aren't relieved thereby Don't hug the fond delusion that they're letting out the waist The princess gowns may sheath it all, but, hark you! under neath it all There is the old compression; they are just as tightly laced ! A Yearly Visitor irthday comes around pretty regularly. first we welcome this gentleman with considerable elation. We hurry him up, and when he comes—as he al- ways comes on time—we boast about him to our friends, as if he were a visitor to be doubly proud of, because each visit on seems to mark an advance on the last one This goes on for some time, until— The truth must finally be told. The year comes when we endeavor to forget him. With a curious assumption of his unimportance, we en- deavor to ignore him. Our friends know that he is coming as usual. Those who are more intimate with us may even joke us gently about him. We take it in good part—on the sur- face. Inwardly, we struggle within ourselves to appear calm under this affliction We would not have him miss his visits. Secretly, after a while, we begin to pride ourselves on the number of them and the fact that we are able to receive him with so much ceremony—even if it is just between ourselves And yet we continue to treat him more gingerly. We want d yet the fact that he does come see add a new pathos to life ome day, doubtless, he will not find us at the old place And yet even then, in response to his kindly inquiry, may nswer for us be able to say, as usual: “At home.” him to come, sto those v RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR comicbooks.com