Life, 1911-10-05 · page 21 of 50
Life — October 5, 1911 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes newly wealthy Americans navigating high-society etiquette. The main cartoon depicts a woman reclining while being attended to—illustrating the satirical point about leisure among the rich. The letter is from a woman who has "unexpectedly" inherited wealth and is hosting a house party. She's comically anxious about every detail: should she greet guests? Provide towels? What's proper conversation? Can she flirt with male guests? Should she entertain them personally? **The satire's point**: Life's mock "Fashion Reform League" advises that *the proper thing* is to completely ignore your guests and leave them entirely to servants—treating them as mere obligations rather than welcoming them. This ridicules both the social pretension of the newly rich (obsessing over trivial rules) and upper-class coldness (ignoring guests is considered "good form"). The joke mocks how absurd and backwards wealthy society's rules are.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
are capturing the hearts of the at Lenox, Bar Harbor and Narragansett We show you how you can mak | | | “@UR BANTING PARLOKS AKE THE MOST i f Here is a letter from a new patron, who has j | into a million, which illustrates how necessa I is to people who unexpectedly inherit la | EXPERIENCE U: ablest men in the country your own clothes 3 a cost of only ten thousand a year ‘NECESSARY Dear Leacur: Please let me know what I shall do in entertaining guests at my house party. Am | expected to supply them with soar? How many towels a day per guest? Shall 1 ¢o to the station to meet them, or shall I wait upon the piazza? Who does up their laundry? What time shall I have breakfast? Is it proper to say “motor ride” or “motor drive”? During my husband” sence, ought I to flirt with any of the men? In case there are not enough bath-tubs (I don’t think there are) what ought I to d Is every guest expected to take s bath every day? What kind of music ought I to provide Would it be proper for me to entertain them by reading alo Ought I to s t_a game of auction? (I am only just learning.) Yours in anguish, We have sent our friend full instructions, but we hasten meanwhile to assure her that the proper thing at present for hostesses at house parties is to pay no attention at all to the guests, but to turn them over to the servants. To xo to the station to meet any of your guests or show them that you are overjoyed at their presence, would he con- sidered bad form. Lire’s Fasuion Reroxm Leacue. comicbooks.com