Life, 1911-01-12 · page 39 of 44
Life — January 12, 1911 — page 39: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine consists primarily of **advertisements and literary humor**, not political satire. The left side features a **Pond's Extract shaving product ad**, using a simple illustration of a man shaving to promote the extract's benefits. The center contains a humorous essay titled "The Bald Heroine" by (or about) **Alice Brown**, satirizing literary conventions. The writer mocks how famous authors (Thackeray, Wilkie Collins, Bulwer Lytton) built entire novels around heroines with distinctive physical features—green eyes, red hair, blindness. He proposes, tongue-in-cheek, that Brown could write a revolutionary-era novel featuring a bald heroine who disguises herself as a man, saves her lover's life, only for him to reveal he's equally bald. It's gentle literary satire about the contrivances of Victorian fiction. The right side advertises **Pears' Soap**, emphasizing that beauty of skin transcends fashion trends. The brief anecdote at bottom uses "Dash" (a dog's name) as wordplay about marital obedience—a mild joke about following instructions. No specific political figures or events are referenced.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
When Shaving pour a few drops of Pond’s Extract in the shaving cup, or on the brush. It will:— Improve the Lather, Change the soapy smell to a delightful aromatic freshness, Make a smoother, creamier lather that lasts longer than when plain water is used, Soothe the skin during the shave and thus prevent irritation. POND’S EXTRACT is used by men of dis- crimination every- where. Sold only in sealed bottles — never in bulk. Large trial bottle and booklet tell- ing the best way to shave, mailed FREE on request. POND'S EXTRACT CO. Dept. 47, 7 Hudson St.,N.Y. Tue trainer yas explaining his system. “In training,” he said, “the strictest obedience is required. Whenever I think of the theory of training I think of Dash, who, after eighteen years of married life, iS one of the best and happiest husbands in the world. ‘ Dash,’ I once said to him, “Dash, old man, how do you take mar? tied life?’ * According to directions,’ he replied.""—Argonaut. Prices, For Sale All Dealers, and legrand=Parig 'Soesisiai! The Bald Heroine Thackeray achieved his greatest triumph by portraying a woman whose eyes were green. She was irresistible. Wilkie Collins gave the world a hero- ine who had red hair. She, too, was irresistible. Bulwer Lytton delighted a generation with a blind girl. These creations are all great. It is time, now, for the appearance of a heroine without hair—a bald girl, yet irre- sistible. I believe a man of genius could give us a convincing heroine totally bald. The wearing of a wig would be grotesque, but she, might conceal her peculiarity through the me- dium of a liberty cap, such as was worn by the females who danced so wildly beneath the windows of Marie Antoinette. It follows from this that the scene of the novel I have in mind must be laid in Paris during the pe- riod of the great French Revolution. Now, a bald girl could readily dis- guise herself as a man, and who ever heard of a heroine disguised as a man who did not save the life of the soldier she loved? The true gentleman who owes his life to a maid consecrates that life to her. She realizes, natural- ly, that to become the wife of a man whose head she has saved from the guillotine is the inevitable outcome when the lady in the case possesses a head of hair. As it is, she leaps from the top of the Bastille—the frowning Bastille, abandoned, now, to solitude— only to land in her lover's arms. He at once pulls off his wig, whispering in her astonished ear: “ Dear one, I am as bald as you!” It all seems absurd enough, as I jot it down, but with how characteristic a seriousness the plot would be worked out by Alice Brown! The Mystery of a Bishop It is difficult to see why the eleva- tion of an eminent theologian to the Episcopate should prevent him from writing a life of Christ. The catas- trophe actually happened, as I dis- covered lately upon reading Dean Far- rar’s preface to his famous biography of the Savior. My intention was to (Continued on page 144) 143 Fashion’s Favorite There is one thing that is always fashion's first favonte, and that is beauty. Style of dress, of coiffure, of headgear, and so on, may change with every month or season, as whim, fancy, or milliners’ decree may dic- tate, but beauty of skin and complex- ion are of the fashions that remain permanent from age to age. This explains the fact of the enduring popularity of Pears’ Soap which, being all pure soap, possessing unique emollient properties, that pre- serve, refine and improve the beauty of the skin and complexion, never ceases to be the leading soap wherever beauty holds her enchanting sway. Delicacy—The delicacy and daintiness of the skin of youth are preserved by the daily use of PEARS. Refinement—The skin is refined, softened and beautified by the exquisite soothing in- fluence of PEARS. It is far more economical to use PEARS than it is touse ordinary toilet soaps. comicbooks.com oie, ¢