Life — August 17, 1911 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Be Friendly to All Summer Girls" This page satirizes a husband's complaint to Life's advice bureau. A man claims he was engaged to a summer girl, had an affair, and now faces divorce—but insists engagement to summer girls shouldn't "mean anything." The magazine's response is blunt: they reject his premise entirely. They defend summer romances as legitimate, argue husbands and wives should eventually reunite, and criticize his apparent belief that casual summer flirtations excuse infidelity. The cartoons mock various absurdities: a man asking if "roads seem cut on the bias" (nonsensical), a "prehistoric artist" refusing costume models, and a real estate agent hyping a cottage's view over practicality. The satire targets male entitlement and the era's double standards around infidelity and romantic commitment.