Life, 1911-03-16 · page 37 of 44
Life — March 16, 1911 — page 37: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the early 20th-century obsession with hygiene and "scientific" housekeeping. The humorous poem mocks the era's germ-consciousness by imagining homes where *everything* is detachable, removable, collapsible, and washable—floors, walls, doors, furniture, even pianos and ceilings. The joke targets two things: first, the extreme lengths people went to eliminate germs (real and imagined); second, the impracticality of these designs for actual living. The detailed descriptions of "boilable quilts," "scrubable frieze," and stairs made to "be burnished with lye" escalate into absurdity. The supporting advertisements (Calox tooth powder, Houbigant perfumes) reinforce the page's theme: selling cleanliness and purity as status symbols. The satire suggests this obsession was becoming ridiculous—that comfort and normalcy were sacrificed in pursuit of perfect sanitation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
RK’S GREAT PENNSYLVANIA STATION dhe greatest works of modern times was the construc- ‘be conc:cte-lined steel tubes under the Hudson and East ibe tunicling of Manhattan Island, and the erection of fegsitcent Pennsylvania Station at Seventh Avenue and Pacoad Sireet, New York, bringing the through trains of ‘senivania Railroad into the heart of New York City. getrate! booklet describing this great work, and telling tpeans to the New York passenger, has been issued by feapivania Railroad, and will be sent postpaid to any Lesby Georze W. Boyd, General Passenger Agent, Broad ‘gation, Philadelphia, Pa., on receipt of a two-cent stamp. Modern Housekeeping Ost house has detachable floors And removable walls; I's fitted with portable doors And collapsible halls; No place that a pale germ may hide, Or a bug be passed b We can take the whole inside outside In the wink of an eye. It is all scientifically built With house-cleaning in view; We make beds with a boilable qui And the chairs all unscrew; Our piano’s hygienically framed In a way superfine, And at moderate intervals aimed To be hung on the line. We hable tables and chairs And a scrubable frieze; We've disjointable bureaus up-stairs, Sanitary settees, Come-apart-able rugs on the floors, Quick removable glass In the windows, so all, out of doors, May be aired on the grass. Our closets are made to collapse And take out in the air; sALOx| QUBBERSET | OX NCTM fete Its Effect isdelightful, its whitening of the tecth is marvelous. The sense of cleanliness and sweetness that Calox brings is wonderful H aed above all it wards off decay and puri- | fes the whole mouth. No other dentifrice contains this ox; \ 9. No other dentifrice can do for you We have all fumigatable wraps; We walk the good housekeeping plank shat Calox does. Try it at our expense. There's removable hair Till we're agile and lean; In the mattresses whereon we sleep, We may have no comfort, but, thank Sas peend BooNed ieee ea reese. And when darkness is done The good Lord, we are clean! You may see as you pass where we keep | —J. W. Foley in Woman's Home It all out in the sun. panion. Our stairs are knock-down-able made Circumstances alter faces. ‘o be burnished with lye; = -- —— = Our ceilings are sprayable—laid . . Perfumes and (On the back fence to dry Houbigant=Paris sospcriiznce In Every Store Quality Only. comicbooks.com