Life, 1911-05-25 · page 25 of 42
Life — May 25, 1911 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine features a satirical article titled "The Passing of the Idle Rich," accompanied by a sketch showing well-dressed figures by a riverside. The cartoon illustrates the article's central joke: the author questions whether wealthy, idle people can actually be eliminated from society, as some progressives wished. The point is that the rich won't sacrifice themselves through military service, poverty, or dangerous labor—the only ways they might realistically "pass" from existence. The article mocks Frederick Townsend Martin's suggestion that idle rich youth might find purpose in retailing bonds (selling financial instruments). The author sarcastically observes this occupation couldn't possibly absorb all the accumulated wealth and leisured people in America. The caption's romantic reference ("two dear little birds...in the mating season") suggests the sketch depicts courtship among the wealthy class—precisely the kind of frivolous, leisure-focused activity the article criticizes. The satire targets both the impracticality of social reform and the uselessness of the wealthy class itself.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OW, MR, CHILLY, ISN'T IT JUST LIKE TWO DEAR LITTLE The Broad Hii vagabondage in E . The Chasm, by George Cram Cook. A tale of socialism in Amer ica and Russia. Good, live controversial fiction. The Caravanners, by the author of Elizabeth and Her German Garden. A traveling Teuton’s own account of a summer's outing. Rather clumsy satire. Conrad in Quest of His Youth, by Leonard Merrick. incidents in disillusionment. The Comtessa's Sister, by Gardner Teall. of Capri with a background of light fiction, The Gold Brick, by Brand Whitlock. sturdy, garden variety) of Illinois politics, The Grain of Dust, by David Graham Phillips. The story of a litle stenographer, a big lawyer and a braig-storm. Twenty-three per cent. alcohol. "Artificially colored. The Great Illusion, by Norman Angell, The historical and human. natural pros and cons of the possibility of international peace. Love's Pilgrimage, by Upton Sinclair. Autobiographical yellow A story of romantic uTY ago. Amusing An attractive picture Short stories (of the journalism, “ Me—Smith”” by Caroline Lockhart. bad-man of the Wyoming desert country. The Patrician, by Tohn Ga family crisis. A_portrait of a ty Two on the Trail, by Hulbe: well staged in the Canadian wil A racily told story of a The inside history of a and a prophecy of its passing. Picturesque melodrama, BIRDS ON A DAR LITTLE TWIG IN THE MATING SEASON?” The Passing of the Idle Rich HE passing of the idle rich is all very well in theory, but is it practicable? How are they going to get passed? They won't join the army, They won't live in the slums. They won't work in sweatshops. They won't be pedestrians. They won't engage in any pursuit whatsoever which has a high mortality rate, except perhaps the pursuit of food and drink. Mr. Frederick Townsend Martin sees a ray of hope in the fact that many of the young idle rich are going into the business of retailing bonds. We will not deny that bonds should be retailed, but even if the demand for retail bonds should increase beyond our fondest dreams, it would hardly furnish a sufficient outlet for all the idle richness which the trusts have accumulated. AN’'S inhumanity to woman makes countless suffragists mourn, comicbooks.com