Life, 1912-01-25 · page 11 of 44
Life — January 25, 1912 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks the idealized notion of the "perfect" Philadelphia husband through a humorous letter from a man who has lived his entire life in Philadelphia and traveled the world without his wife knowing. The cartoon shows a man reading or working while his wife tends to domestic matters—illustrating the article's theme about gender roles and marital dynamics. The satire targets Philadelphia's self-regard as a bastion of propriety and virtue. The "Philadelphia husband" supposedly solves the problem of human existence through "temperament and environment," yet the letter reveals he's actually been globe-trotting while his oblivious wife stayed home. The joke exposes the gap between Philadelphia's pious reputation and actual husbands' behavior—mocking both marital deception and the city's pretensions to moral superiority.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LEE * The Virtuous Philadelphia Husband Held Up to the World by the Manager of the Husbands’ Correspondence Bureau as a Perfect Specimen of Man- kind—Possible Removal of Headquarters E have been considering for some time the advisability of moving our headquarters to Philadel- phia, having been repeatedly urged to do this, not only by some of our lead- ing customers, but also by the manager of our Entertainment Committee and the tall, handsome blonde, on the right as you enter. The fact is, that so far as New York is concerned, we have practically ex- hausted everything there is here; and Philadelphia is so much more up-to- date and contains so many more varie- ties of amusement that we believe the result would be highly beneficial to all of our customers. the husbands of Phila- —taking them as a body—are with us heart and soul. While our trade there has not been so large as we should desire, it is due to the fact that they have not needed us and not to the number of possibilities. During the past four or five years we have had occasion to examine the Philadelphia husband with great in- terest and curiosity; and we are bound to state that, all things considered, he offers a model for the rest of mankind. In the morning he can be seen arising from his couch and quietly eating his breakfast without ostentation or fric- tion, and proceeding to his office, where “We become constantly more particular” he modestly works until the hour of noon has arrived. He then proceeds to his club, and after partaking of a cup of tea and a dish of ice cream, and playing possibly a game of casino with some kindred spirit, he goes back to his work, and six o'clock finds him home again in the bosom of his family. The truth is that the Philadelphia husband is about one cycle beyond all the rest of mankind. He has prac- tically solved the problem of human existence. It is largely a matter of temperament and environment—the exception proves the rule, The other day, for example, we received the fol- lowing letter: Dear Sir: , I have lived in Philadelphia all my life, having ‘been married for the last twenty years. Philadelphia has satisfied me, with possibly an occasional visit to Ger- mantown. In the summer my wife goes to some summer resort, thereby raising the social tone of that establishment and making glad the heart of the proprietor. I have remained at home, quietly occupy- ing mysclf with some of the best litera ture and taking a much needed rest from the cares of the winter. This year I de- termined to see the world, and so I came on to New York, and, after spending a few weeks there, I went on to Paris and Constantinople—also other places not necessary to mention. 1 regret to state that this journey has been a very disas- trous one. When I got back I found that my wife was living in Reno, having ap- parently kept track of my movements as journeyed about the world. Can you suggest any method by which we can patch things up? So far as I am concerned, I am through. Philadelphia for me the rest of my life. But how can I reconcile her to the past? Yours anxiously, This is a very extraordinary case, The idea of anybody who has lived in Philadelphia all his life desiring to see the world is something so unusual we have hesitated to pass an opinion until we can come in closer touch with the gentle- man’s environment. We have, therefore, taken up a temporary residence in Phila- delphia, and hope to report later more fully upon this subject. that’ “Philadelphia is so much more up-to-date ” We had some difficulty at first in securing a Philadelphia lady who would marry us (there seeming to be some prejudice against us), although we are bound to say that not only are we in the prime of life, but our circum- stances have never been easier. It might be just as well to add, however, that we ourselves, as we grow older, become constantly more particular about the women we marry. Their age grows less as we add on years of our own. This is the only artistic and fundamentally accurate way to achieve a continuously joyful married career. We have, as everybody knows, made some unfortunate mistakes in the past, due to unavoidable conditions; but we think we can say with entire confi- dence that our latest Philadelphia union looks good to us. It is true that the lady has had a very limited experi- ence with those larger affairs of life at which we consider ourselves an ex- pert. In other words, she is young, she is innocent and she is more than beau- tiful; and she also has a gentle and confiding nature. We believe that our large heart and our broad way of looking at things will make us worth all the confidence she imposes in us. And while at present we are inclined to adopt Philadelphia as our head- quarters, we shall hope to persuade our spouse—in order to complete her