Life, 1911-09-07 · page 36 of 44
Life — September 7, 1911 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page mixes advertising with literary content, typical of Life's satirical approach. **The Left Side:** A corset advertisement disguised as social commentary. The text sardonically notes that fashionable women's figures are entirely constructed by corsets—their "beautiful lines" come not from nature but from restrictive garments. The illustration shows a woman being molded into an artificial silhouette. The satire is implicit: Life is mocking both the fashion industry's deception and women's compliance with painful constraints presented as beauty. **The Right Side:** Two poems and a fable. "Sonnet to a Clam" humorously treats shellfish as tragic figures. "The Rabbit's Eye" is a cautionary fable about deception—a turtle tricks a rabbit into visiting underwater by flattering him, likely an allegory about trusting false promises. Both suggest themes of vulnerability and manipulation. The juxtaposition—artificial beauty standards alongside tales of being deceived and harmed—reinforces Life's satirical message about urban society's pretenses and dangers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
REE The AWM L8- Lhe Crtlic~ @ The fashionable woman knows that her figure is made by the corset. She may have , beautiful lines from the artist's point of view, butsheknows that-her form ) must be mod- elled by the corset into the contour which is the represent the best there is in corset designing and making. Every part of the figure in aRedfernisrelaxed. This pliancy, while not due to any one feature, is largely due to the nature of the boning, which is the rarest whalebone. Sold by Leading Shops at $15.00 down to $3.50 Cstapysuen 8 ey Brothers, ‘CLOTHING; > Gentlemens Furnishing Goo ds, Clothes for Lounge, Dress or Sporting Wear. English Furnishings; Hats; Trunks and Leather Goods. Boots and Shoes in exclusive models. Norfolks and Knickerbockers of light Shetland or heavy Harris Tweeds. Heavy Flannel Golf ‘Trousers. Send for Illustrated Catalo BROADWAY, Cor. TWENTY-SECOND ST., NEW YORK Sonnet to a Clam Dum tacent clamant. Inglorious friend! most confident I am, Thy life is one of very little ease; Albeit men mock thee with their si And prate of being “happy as a clam What though thy shell protects thy fragile head From the sharp bailiffs of the briny sea? Thy valves are, sure, no safety-valves to thee, While rakes are free to desecrate thy bed, And bear thee off—as foeman take their spoil— Far from thy friends and family to roam; Forced, like a Hessian, from thy native home, To meet destruction in a foreign broil! Though thou art tender, yet thy humble bard Declares, O clam, thy case is shocking hard! John G. Saxe. The Rabbit’s Eye It once happened that the king of the fishes got a sad wound in his nose through contact with a steel hook art- fully covered by the body of a worm. His Majesty's phy- sicians being unable to heal the wound, the councilors of the kingdom were called together for the purpose of de- bating on the subject. They talked a great deal for a long time without any of them reaching a single conelu- sion, or even making a single proposal, until at last the turtle, who had been thinking while the others were talk- ing, addressed the council: “In my belief there is only one cure for his Majesty's erated nose; it is a poultice made from the eye of a living rabbit. I know of one who lives on land, in a field near the shore.” And as it would have been difficult for any one without legs to walk even a short distance on land, the turtle was asked whether he would not himself go up and interview the rabbit. To this he consented and forthwith paddled to the surface. Sure enough, he found the rabbit where he expected to find him, sitting in clover. At once the turtle spoke to him in flattering terms, praising the length of his ears and so forth, finally inviting him to come down and visit him in the sea. The rabbit was much pleased with such civility. But he recognized a serious objection, which he stated thus: “Lam very much obliged to you, but I don’t know how to swim; besides, I am not sure whether the air would agree with me down under the water.” “Oh,” replied the insinuating hard-shell, “you need have no fears as to that. It is ever so. much fresher and cooler down where we live than in this hot, stuffy field. All you have to do is to put your front paws on my kk and I will take you safely below without any exertion on your part.” Accordingly the deluded rabbit followed the instruc- he turtle, and soon found himself in the royal er-p » Where the council was awaiting his arrival The rabbit was ushered to a seat of honof, surrounded by a guard, and then informed with what object he had been brought thithe _ But, though the rabbit had. been deceived, he was as and promptly made .” said he, “two pairs of eyes—my own and one of glass. The glass pair I always use for traveling to save the others from the a e: yes at present, and they would, his Majesty. However, if the turtle will take me back he is welcome to one of the others, which J buried in the ground before coming aw This offer was greeted with unanimoyg assent, andthe turtle was ordered to carry the rabbit shore, the fithes ay zing to their obliging visitor f trouble at all! Don't men ite bunny. as he once more climbed on the turtle’s back, And off they went The moment they touched the land, the rabbit hopped Jown, and said to the turtle, while he shook the water out of his ears My friend, 1 will now leave you to dig for the The only eyes | ever had are and as | prefer to keep them, fw a very pl comicbooks.com