Life, 1910-03-24 · page 17 of 44
Life — March 24, 1910 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes early 20th-century romantic attitudes and modern conveniences through contrasting imagery. **"The New Romance"** poem mocks the "new woman"—the independent, modernized female rejecting traditional romance. She demands men not muss her hair or tear her dress, dislikes emotional displays, and warns that passion causes aging ("wrinkles and crow's feet"). The satire targets how contemporary women prioritized appearance and practicality over passionate love. **The lower cartoon** depicts the "First Congo Quick Lunch" opening using a "help yourself" plan—an early self-service restaurant concept. The chaotic scene shows well-dressed diners mobbing the food service, with waitstaff overwhelmed. This satirizes both the novelty of self-service dining and perhaps anxieties about loss of formal service and decorum in modern life. Together, these pieces ridicule how rapid social change—from romance customs to dining practices—disrupted traditional Victorian norms, presenting modernity as simultaneously amusing and slightly chaotic.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The New Romance ISS me, but do not muss my hair, Nor be so much in haste Your arm—my frock, if touched, will tear!— To put about my waist. Love me, but wisely; tears and sighs I loathe, and fear to see A tortured brow and jealous eyes Bent angrily on me. Tell me you love me, if you must, Remembering once ‘tis said That iteration breeds disgust And fervor is ill-bred. And I'll give you a love discreet, For passion uncontroll'd With pallor, wrinkles and crow’s feet Turns pretty women old! E.0 womeN Women WOMEN WONM’EN Women Women Women VARIDUE Ti Pes Or: women THE FIRST HOP OF THE SEASON Goin’ some! OPENING OF THE FIRST CONGO QUICK LUNCH ON THE “HELP YOURSELF"? PLAN