Life, 1911-06-15 · page 20 of 44
Life — June 15, 1911 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page mocks upper-class society gossip and pretension through fake society announcements and an illustration showing a crowded city street. The satire targets several absurdities: ridiculous aristocratic names ("Lord Churchmowse," "Tenpercent Pyncher") and fabricated genealogies; vapid social concerns (an engagement, a wedding with ten bridesmaids); and the self-important exclusivity of wealthy people claiming exclusion from the masses—the irony being Mrs. Tawkor insists "there are only four people in New York" while the street scene shows it packed with humanity. The cartoon's caption "NOT A SOUL ON THE AVENUE" directly contradicts the crowded street depicted, emphasizing how the wealthy inhabit a delusional bubble of their own importance, oblivious to the actual crowds around them. Additional mockery includes yacht names like *Morning Cocktail* and absurd fashion descriptions (a hat "in imitation of a bushel basket" decorated with beets and asparagus), ridiculing both conspicuous consumption and the pretentious magazine language that celebrates it.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HE engagement is announced of Miss Phillis Pocketts to Lord Churchmowse. It will be remembered that Miss Pocketts is a granddaughter of the Hon. Tenpercent Pyncher. Her mother was one of the Baltimore Eaton- dryncks. Lord Churchmowse is a cousin of Sir Archibald Guzzle of Guzzle Hall, Bent, Upper-Drunk-on-Thyrstmore. Mrs. Wytliss Tawkor and her charm- ing daughter, Mrs. Chattor Loud, were in town on Tuesday. They took a short drive for some shopping, and, with the exception of Mrs. Leeds Thegang, there was not a soul on the Avenue. Mrs Tawkor, as everybody knows, is one of the Boston Pumkyns. She says there are only four people in New York, anyway. Mr. and Mrs. Pursey Strutt are pre- paring for an elaborate garden party at their charming Newport villa. Mrs. Strutt is a daughter of the Hon. Lawe Dodger. Everybody in good society knows the Lawe Dodgers, and the gar- den party will be an event of the season. -LIFE- Society We are authorized to say there is not a word of truth in the report that Mr. Merger Hogg intends buying the new library building at the corner of Fifth avenue and Forty-second street and using it as a private garage. Mr. and Mrs. Braynliss Pupp are still away on their honeymoon. Mrs. Rotton Morralls will spend the summer abroad, She is to visit the Baddicks-Ampels in the autumn. “NOT A SOUL ON THE AVENUE” Society is looking forward with some excitement to the wedding, on the tenth of next month, of Miss Tootoo Kylling to Willie Jinnanseltz, There will be ten bridesmaids. Reginald Wuntwurk is to be best man. The bride will be given away by her uncle, Mr. Ollin Bonds. The affair will take place at Bribehurst, the summer residence of the Bonds. The ceremony itself will occur in the lovely little chapel of the Holy Tariff on the Bond estate. Mr. Dedleigh Bohr has given up his xroplane and returned to yachting. His new boat, the Morning Cocktail, is a marvel of speed and luxury. He is now off on a cruise with his friends, Galley West and Bughouse Todd. Mr. and Mrs. Octave Schwindler have opened their palatial villa, Inkum- by-the-Sea. Their daughter, Mrs. Stuck- on Show, who is now in Paris, will soon return for the summer, Mrs. Saymold Bluff was at the Dollas Country Club Tuesday. She wore a Princess robe thickly covered with rab- bit’s-eye rubies caught at its lower foun- dation, with tight-fitting ostrich plumes and heliotrope cheviot. Her hat. made in imitation of a bushel basket, was richly gilt, decorated with bects and asparagus, the whole resting easily on her shoulders and concealing her face. She was lovely. Mrs. Powdard Horra and her sister- in-law, Countess Rouge-Galore, were ac- costed on the street the other day by a very vulgar person, who, of course, did not know who they really were. Most annoying, such things. comicbooks.com