Life, 1911-05-04 · page 45 of 56
Life — May 4, 1911 — page 45: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains **advertisements and reader letters**, not political satire. **Main content:** - A **Detroit Electric automobile ad** featuring a woman driver and passengers. The copy emphasizes the car's safety features—notably that it has automatic controls so "if she forgets, the car 'remembers' automatically." This reflects early-1900s anxiety about women drivers, positioning the electric car as foolproof enough for female operation. - **Reader letters** discussing buttonholes on women's clothing (responding to an article called "The Opposite Sex" signed "Purple Cow") and health department statistics on disease mortality rates. - A **Paris Garters advertisement** for men's clothing accessories. The page reflects early-20th-century gender attitudes: automobiles marketed to women emphasize safety and simplicity, while male readers debate women's competence with basic tasks like buttoning clothes. The ads assume distinct male and female consumer spheres.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SiDE TRIPS THROUGH PICTURESQUE KOLLAND 7 ILL EXPENSE RO! FROM PARIS } tere Any cia 5 days tom, BERLIN J From Anywhere qantas From London to the NIGHT SERVICE—Via FOLKESTONE 1 SLUSHING DAY SERVICE—Via QUEENBORO-FLUSHING «1 and Most Convenient Route to Northern and Cen- smoothest Sea Trip. New Palace Steamers, test Crosslng the Channel, ts and Itineraries showing every detail of detighthal tours. , General t Netherland State Rallwayy— Mail Route, a Broadway, New York From Our Readers (Continued from page 904) reports of the Health Department. The annual report for 1908 says of this disease: “ The endemic level, as it was previous to the outbreak of 1904, has at least been reached, the death rate per 1,000 being 0.7 during 1908, which is exactly the same as the death rate from 1900 to 1903. The disease was apparently more fatal dur- ing 1908 than the year before.” S. M. Farrent. April 8 tort. His Experience Deak Lire: a married man of seven years’ crience in buttoning waists I beg to take exception to the statement in the article entitled “The Opposite Sex,” and signed “ Purple Cow,” on Summer Comfort HERE needn't be amy left-at-homes when you own a Detroit Electric Brougham. It’s so comfortably roomy. Ample space for four large adults. Wide, deep cushions—richly upholstered—the smart- est of equipages for town and suburbs. The Detroit Electric is the car of dependable safety—a woman can drive it anywhere. Its special control means that if she forgets, the car “‘remembers’’ automatically. The Detroit Electric has a new horizontal control— an exclusive feature. Insures restful, natural position for hands—means more room, greater comfort. Our “Chainless" Direct Shaft Drive is the ultimate in noiseless, frictionless transmission. Noconcealed chains. ‘Runs ina whisper.” Send for our handsome new book Anderson Electric Car Company Department 4 MICHIGAN w York, Broadway and "hicago, 2448 Michigan ‘ansas City, Buffalo, Cleveland Selling Representatives In All Leading Cities wa iii i ii i nh OTT il ine ( page of the “ Burglar’s Number,” button—and my difficulty is to keep out to-day. In the fourth paragraph one button “ put,” while the next one the aforesaid “Purple Cow” opines below (or above, as the case may be) that to be a member of the opposite is being “ put” sex one must be able to “clutch a but- Don't publish my name, because my ton, the size of a pin head, and force wife is a religious student of Lire it through a microscopic buttonhole.” You are all right on the size of the button, but I have never yet seen a | — _ — buttonhole in a lady’s waist that a a | ++ = Perf In Every Store (Continued on page 907) comicbooks.com