Life, 1911-12-28 · page 15 of 41
Life — December 28, 1911 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents four comic vignettes mocking different social types through exaggerated domestic scenes. "The Russian Dancers at Breakfast" caricatures exotic performers in chaotic disarray. "The Floorwalker at Home" depicts a department store employee conducting himself pompously in his own residence—satirizing how workers adopt artificial authority outside their stations. "The Coachman in His Hours of Ease" shows a working-class driver relaxing with excessive comfort, likely mocking working-class pretension. "The Traffic Policeman in the Bosom of His Family" presents an authoritarian cop surrounded by chaos at home, suggesting his public power doesn't translate domestically. The page's humor relies on class-based stereotypes common to early 20th-century American satire: mocking foreigners, social climbers, and the collision between public roles and private reality. The accompanying text about stealing to Paris reinforces themes of aspiration and financial irresponsibility among the working and middle classes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE RUSSIAN DANCERS AT BREAKFAST THE FLOORWALKER AT OME THE COACHMAN IN HIS MOURS OF EASE THE TRAFFIC POLICEMAN 1N THE bosoat OF HIS FAMILY SOME LITTLE JOURNEYS TO THE HOMES OF PEOPLE WE KNOW enough moncy before the end of the year, it is our inten- tall, handsome blonde—on the right as you enter—may be tion to steal away to Paris, While we have a keen sense away about the same length of time. of our responsibility, we believe that the whole trade will Please remit at once. be benefited by our sojourn abroad. It is probable that the Husbands’ Correspondence Burcau. comicbooks.com