Life, 1910-12-15 · page 35 of 44
Life — December 15, 1910 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine is primarily **advertising and literary content** rather than political satire. The main elements are: 1. **Stevens-Duryea automobile advertisement** (center): Features an early motorcar surrounded by well-dressed spectators. The ad emphasizes that their design principle incorporates "only features justified by sound reasoning" and claims "established a standard" over 20 years. This is straightforward product marketing appealing to quality-conscious consumers. 2. **"The Literary Zoo"** (left): A continuation of satirical literary criticism targeting pretentious writers and wealthy industrialists who lack culture or proper grammar—particularly "copper magnates" and provincial authors like Sir Gilbert Parker whose works don't match their elevated social status. 3. **"The Quest of the Wrong Word"** (bottom right): A brief essay on prose style, discussing how writers like Gertrude Atherton skillfully deploy unexpected word choices. 4. **Minor advertisements**: DB Ale and Houbigant perfume. The page reflects early 1900s concerns about wealth, social climbing, and literary merit—but lacks specific political cartoons or identifiable caricatures.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SBSSSSESsSSSSsEEE SBlISS6SSCRCRSESSSSESESSSSESE THE MAYOR OF OSHKOSH Then up spake the Mayor of Oshkosh, “All thls talk about printing ts bosh. Say, printing ain't tn it, not for a minute, ©° around here, by gosh." fe aE ae jew York The Literary Zoo (Continued from page 1121) tatoes to the mouth with a knife be- fore a tableful of the nicest sort of people, that such procedure is not the Who would not prefer impe- ssity and holes in his shoes to a th Avenue palace upon condition of being so ignorant as to say: “I never seen Wagner”? It must be lit- tle consolation to the copper magnate, when his blundering grammar is cor- tected for him privately by his secre- tary, to reflect that he is ten times a millionaire. It will be urged that the parvenu is too coarse to experience the least anguish as a consequence of his own grotesque deportment. That is a delusion!’ A man’s environment colors his character and affects his point of view. The enormous red hands of a copper magnate must ex- asperate him the more from the fact that he is so rich. When Sir Gilbert Parker has it borne in upon him, through his present association with the great ones of the earth, that the aristocratic characters in his various works of fiction never rise above the level of his own provincialism, it must be little consolation to him to reflect that he is a celebrated novelist. He can but wince the more over The Right of Way when he remembers that since that book he has been made a knight and a Member of Parliament. The anguish of those who have seen better days is nothing to the mortifi- tations of those who have scen worse. ‘*Oh, Be Jolly’? If you'd drink. the better ale, better At leading Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes. G. VAN NOSTRAND Bunker Hilt Breweries, Boston, such features only which may be justified by sound reasoning. From , | \NHE guiding principle in Stevens-Duryea design is to incorporate 1891 until today, a span of over 20 years, each advance has ESTABLISHED A STANDARD A crucial test of comparison sustains our argument Stevens-Duryea Company Licensed under Selden Patent. Chicopee Falls, Mass. The Quest of the Wrong Word The search for the right word re- mains the unprofitable employment of too many masters of style. The se- cret of charm in prose is the appear- ance of the wrong word where one does not expect it. The wrong word where one looks for it—say, in the most characteristic passages by Henry James—has always its piquancy, but to be exquisitely and perfectly wrong, a word needs to be picked by Gertrude 1125 Atherton out of ten thousand. She is now mistress of the wrong word with all the grace of that Duchess who is now mistress of the robes. Nor does Gertrude Atherton choose the wrong word less charmingly than Ninon d> (Concluded on page 1127) Houbigant - Paris samara Quality “Only, In Every Store