Life, 1910-02-17 · page 11 of 44
Life — February 17, 1910 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains humorous sketches about social etiquette and modern inconveniences circa early 1900s. **"Force of Habit"** depicts a bareback circus rider on a motor boat—satirizing how new automobile technology seemed as unfamiliar and precarious as exotic circus acts. **"Privileges of Friendship"** lists petty annoyances guests inflict on hosts: arriving unannounced, appropriating private spaces, sleeping in the library without permission, and being rude about hosts' possessions. The accompanying illustration shows a taxi driver's complaint about unpaid fares. **"The Uncle of His Country"** features a rotund figure—a visual pun on patriotic rhetoric, depicting someone claiming familial authority over national affairs. **"In a Newspaper Office"** satirizes journalistic ethics, with a city editor dismissing a reporter's moral objections to covering a wedding scandal as mere prudishness. The humor targets social friction points and emerging technologies of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
< FORCE OF HABIT SIGNOR SPRINGALOTTI TH Privileges of Friendship T° be given the small room in the attic so that the spare chamber may be ready for possible but unex- pected company. To hear the completion of the family quarrel that he wishes his arrival had interrupted. To hear both sides of the family quar- rel separately. “IP THESE MOTOR BOATS GET MORE N MEROUS I WON’T HAVE ANY NERVES LEFT. BAREBACK CIRCUS RIDER 1S ALSO A MOTOR BOAT ENTIUSIAST To agree with both sides of the fam- ily quarrel when heard separately. To walk from the station in rainy weather because it is so bad for the family horses to be out in the rain. To stay at home and take care of the children while the other guests are taken driving. To make himself at home in the li- brary without having been given the key to the book shelves. To be joked about his personal ap- pearance. To be reminded of his youthful flirta- tions in the presence of new and enter- taining young women. To be told when to go home. To be told when to stay home. In short—to be treated exactly like “one of the family" without the in- alienable family right to say what he thinks of it. Embarrassing ad ‘OU must have struck it rich, old man. I see you in this taxi- cab every day “Tt isn’t that. You see, one night I told the chauffeur to drive me around until I told him to stop. I fell asleep, and when I awoke I did not have enough money to pay his bill. So I’ve got to keep on riding in it until I die” IREE bees that give no honey: brag, boast and bluster. An Acrostic Mighty, model, modern. Oarless, often occupied. Thousands thoroughly tested. Ornamented, ordered, operated. Reliable, ready, required. Balky, baneful bargains. Output ordinarily obtained Attractive, acceptable, advantageous. Tormenting, taxable tasks. Speedy, serviceable, satisfactory. Vonce C. Criss. THE UNCLE OF 118 COUNTRY In a Newspaper Office ITY EDITOR: One minute, Jones. Rerorter: All right. City Epitor: I don’t know whether it is absent-mindedness on your part, or an expression of your views on matri- mony, but I'd rather, when you have occasion to write about a wedding, not have you say that Miss Smith and Mr. Brown “underwent” a marriage cere- mony. comicbooks.com