Life, 1910-12-08 · page 19 of 44
Life — December 8, 1910 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains multiple satirical pieces mocking early 1900s upper-class gender dynamics and educational philosophy. **"Eden 1910"** (top) updates the Adam-and-Eve myth to mock married boredom. A neglectful husband frequents clubs, yachts, and unspecified entertainments while his fashionably dressed wife (Eve) sits idle at home. Satan's "temptation" arrives as modern "apples up-to-date"—suggesting contemporary temptations lure neglected wives. The humor satirizes how wealthy marriages isolate women while men enjoy freedom. **"The Cheek of the Men"** criticizes Cornell President Schurman's proposal to fund elite research universities excluding average students. Life sarcastically endorses this "practical" elitism, noting even newly elected Governor Woodrow Wilson supports rigorous academic standards. **"Children and Dollars"** (bottom) reprints Socialist verse from *Appeal to Reason* mocking American industrialization. It argues humans alone exploit their young through child labor—contrasting this with animals that nurture offspring, attacking factory owners' reliance on child workers. The page targets class privilege, marital inequality, and labor exploitation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Eden 1910 DAM was at his club, or on “the Street,” Or motoring, or, maybe, on his yacht. Or, possibly, in pastime less discreet— Just where, it matters not. At any rate, he was not with his wife. Eve, in her Boudoir, hair well ondulé, By Paquin gowned, played with a paper knife And yawned away her day. Idly she sat, and idly speculated What thing might chance to break her boredom’s thrall, And, sooner than she had anticipated, Satan dropped in to call. He flattered, wooed Ber—captured her with wiles— Poor Eve, deep sunk in tepid, married state— Sure prey to each smooth Satan who beguiles With apples up-to-date. K Cammack, The Cheek of the Men RESIDENT SCHURMAN, of Cor- nell, asks in his annual report for twenty million dollars (not necessarily all at once), to endow a school of re- scarch for sclected scholars. In the col- leges as they arc he thinks too much is WHAT'S THIS, DEAR? IT’S DELICIOUS, APPLE-SAUCE. sacrificed to the average stydent, who goes to college for fun and Tacks serious purpose. Hear him. He says: The ideal for the college is not difficult to formulate. No student should be permitted to remein in it who does not love the arts and sciences for their own sake and who does not show that love by devoted study, unless indeed he is earnestly pursuing courses with the definite object of preparing himself for some practical work or professional career. Awful! Now that Woodrow Wilson, the most eminent contemporary cham- “MOTHER, DEAR MOTHER, COME HOME WITH ME NOW, THE CLOCK IN THE STEEPLE STRIKES ON! pion of the novel idea of study for col- lege students, has been chosen Governor and Democratic boss of his State, after a campaign of signal glory, there is no telling where this enthusiasm about ex- pecting the college boys to work is going to stop. It is a more practical idea than it was before election. Children and Dollars HIS verse is from the Appeal to Reason, a Socialist paper. The Socialists are not quite so enthusiastic over child labor as our factory owners: CHILD LABOR No fledgling feeds the father-bird! No chicken feeds the hen! No kitten mouses for the cat— This glory is for men. We are the Wisest, Strongest Race— Loud may our praise be sung !— The only animal alive That lives upon its young! —Charloite Perkins Gilman. Vee ceed THE STORY OF A SUCCESSFUL WIFE.