Life, 1910-12-22 · page 9 of 44
Life — December 22, 1910 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains satirical domestic humor typical of early 20th-century Life magazine. The top illustration "The Course of True Love" depicts a motorcycle accident—a couple crashes while driving, with passengers thrown about. Below, two brief dialogue exchanges mock marriage advice and gender relations. The first sketch jokes about a new father receiving unsolicited parenting advice from a doctor. The wife interrupts to shut down his pompous instruction, establishing the familiar "nagging wife" trope. The second features roosters discussing an aviator's boasting about six weeks' flying experience. One rooster threatens divorce, sarcastically suggesting she'll "set on those eggs" herself rather than endure his nonsense. The humor relies on domestic conflict stereotypes and the relative novelty of aviation and motorcars as markers of modernity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE A Prophet is Not Without Honor, Except, etc. “M* DEAR.” says the doctor to his wife, who is cuddling their new boy, “you should not feed the baby oftener than every three hours, you should not take it up every time it cries, it should sleep practically all the time, 1t should not be shown to everyone who calls, your mother and father should not be permitted to dandle it, you should not chuck it under the chin that way, it should sleep in a room without heat and with the windows wide open, its clothing should be simple—none of those lacy, embroidered things—and——" “Humph!" interrupts his wife. “You go and tell that stuff to people that pay you five dollars a visit! I don't want any of your old advice about this baby.” * RE you an experienced aviator? ’* “Well, sir, I have been at it six weeks and I am all bere.”” “CUT OUT ALL THIS SUFFRAGETTE NONSENSE AND GO HOME AND SET ON THOSE EGGS OR I'LL GET A DIVORCE.”