Life, 1911-12-21 · page 13 of 44
Life — December 21, 1911 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes the commercialization of women's beauty and leisure time. A well-dressed man (a "Sport" or wealthy gentleman) appears to be propositioning a woman about an "illustrated edition of the Bible" — a transparent euphemism for an improper proposition. The satire targets how beauty is marketed as a commercial "asset" that women should cultivate during prescribed leisure hours ("Three to Four," "Four to Five," etc.). The text below mocks the fashion/beauty industry's claims that women have patriotic duty to look attractive and that husbands tolerate their beauty routines. The cartoon critiques how women's appearance was being packaged and sold as both a moral obligation and a commodity in early 20th-century consumer culture.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
BEAUTY AS AN ASSET Sport, to Book Agent: ay ove! VM AWFULLY GLAD y« S CALLED. I'VE BEEN INTENDING FOR EVER SO LONG TO GET AN ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF THE BIDLE Three to Four—This period is the most strenuous we have. Our new system of exercise, which consists almost entirely of graceful movements, combined with stretching, followed by electric vibration, is of the utmost benefit to ladies suffering from embonpoint. Four to ve-—This is complexion hour. The care of skin is more important than anything else. We have a graded process—namely, manipulation, creaming, massag- ing, touching and retouching, perspective and enameling. Five to Six—During this hour your friends can drop in on you and see how you are getting on. If you are on good terms with your husband he may be permitted for a few moments, but this is not advised. Our experience has been that husbands are almost sure to have an irritating effect, bringing with them, as they invariably do, the coarse atmosphere of the street. At six it is time to be gowned, and this process, under the care of our trained artists, takes about two hours. One may then employ the evening in any way desired Thus it will be seen that our regular customers need not complain about not having their time fully occupied. At first it may seem hard to one not used to using her will power, but the benefit one receives is worth all the trouble. Besides, every woman owes a duty to her country. To fritter away one’s time is unpatriotic. If all the women in this country would adopt our programme, how little cause would they have to complain of ennui? Our prices are reasonable, from five hundred a week up. Lire’s Fasnion Rerorm Leacvue The Usual Delay RIEND: Does the house you're putting up comply with the building regulations? New York Burtver: No; but I suppose they"ll make us as soon as a workman gets killed. WOMAN always knows when a man is in love with her. A man often knows a woman is in love with him when she isn’t comicbooks.com