Life, 1911-05-18 · page 16 of 42
Life — May 18, 1911 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical advertisement for a fictional "Husbands' Correspondence Bureau"—a fake service that claims to "treat" wives with suffragette and independence-minded tendencies by separating them from their husbands. The joke targets early 1900s anxieties about the women's suffrage movement. The cartoon depicts the bureau as offering treatments (including visits to red-light districts like the Tenderloin, trips to Paris) to distract wives from political activism. The sample testimonial describes a wife who abandoned her presidential ambitions for the women's club once her husband took the "treatment." The satire works on multiple levels: it mocks both the misogyny of men threatened by women's rights AND the absurdity of such schemes. The final caption—"Why should I, when there are incubators?"—references a popular eugenics debate of the era, darkly suggesting reproductive technology might replace wives altogether. This is Life magazine's biting social commentary on gender politics and anti-suffrage sentiment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
\ aN Ws Wh an vail i 1 iy yi ia \ <i not only treat wives, but we treat hus- bands as well. We do not lecture them on their shortcomings—they get enough of that at home. On the contrary,. we lead them gently to forget themselves and we do this fearlessly. Our whole treatment is based on courage and hope. Our latest book, for example, entitled “One Thousand Ways to Leave Home” —which is in its tenth edition and which we sell for one dollar (postage twelve cents)—is the living literary embodi- ment of this principle. We advise all of our customers to send for a copy ‘of this book before the edition is exhausted, otherwise you may have to wait several weeks. Meanwhile we take pleasure in printing the following letter, one among hundreds constantly reccived : Dear Old Bureau: At last Tam a happy mant Six months ego I began taking your course of treatmert, \ \ \ ssa \ WHERE CREEDS DON'T COUNT which included a visit to your establishment, a long personal interview with your. tall handsome blonde, a series of trips in your seeing-the-Tenderloin auto, and a run over to Paris. I did this on your advice, my wife having displayed suffragette tendencies, and being an active candidate for the presidency of the woman's club in our town. On my return T found that sh> had given up all these fatai propensities, and was so glad to see me and forget the past that we are now united forever. I inclose a check. Gratefully yours, We find this correspondent has made a slight error in his remittance and has sent only about half of what is due, but we have no doubt that he will remit the «balance after he has heard from the col- lection agency that has our business. We may say that we do not treat all cases in the same manner that we have treated this, which required something speedy and radical. Sometimes we snever part husband and wife, the treat- ment going on right in their own home. {t is in our diagnosis that we are so strong. Don't delay. Incipient cases are much more easily handled and cost compara- tively nothing. Write, call or telegraph HUSBANDS’ CORRESPONDENCE BUREAU. “WHY SHOULD 1, WHEN THERE ARE IN- cuBATORS?"" icbooks.com