Life, 1912-02-08 · page 18 of 44
Life — February 8, 1912 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the early-20th-century American obsession with formal dress codes and official ceremonies. The main cartoon depicts Uncle Sam in top hat and striped trousers, labeled with references to "troubled waters" and "commerce"—suggesting government intervention in everyday life through costume regulation. The text mocks a fictional "Fashion Reform League" proposing standardized costumes for Supreme Court justices, Cabinet members, and other officials, with expenses covered by Congress. The satire escalates through absurd requests: King George asking for a throne costume, and an author wanting promotional attire to advertise his books on Broadway. The joke targets American pretension and conformity—the irony that a self-proclaimed "patriotic" organization refuses to serve foreign kings while pursuing elaborate domestic costume schemes. The "fat man's department" and dismissal of vain authors add layers of social mockery. The leftside cartoon titled "A Jolly Little Bridge Party" remains unclear without additional context.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
302 necessary. It is understood that the expense of this costume will be taken care of by the United States Treasury Department on a warrant from Con- gress, We are frank to confess that when we started out upon the idea of hav- ing costumes for men and establishing a regular order of sartorial precedence, we did not realize the widespread in- terest that would be taken in our pro- gramme, The result is that we have been besieged with requests from all over the country by men desiring to know what is proper to wear, We shall take care of our customers in the order in which their requests are received. We are now organizing a fat man’s department, and will design costumes especially suitable for these gentlemen. King George has just cabled us: “Your costume for Whitelaw Reid immense sensation in Lon- don. Can you design one for me proper for throne and other occa- sions? “ Grorce. We have replied to this gentleman by stating that we regret very much that we cannot fill his order We have had several requests from Eu- ropean Kings, but we are too patriotic to undertake any foreign “A JOLLY LITTLE BRIDGE PARTY” WHAT'S THE ANSWER? work just at present. Our motto is: “ America for Americans.” We have just received a communica- tion from a prominent author, asking if it is possible for us to fit out liter- ary men in the same way that we are costuming the Supreme Court and members of the Cabinet. This gentle- man writes: “Tt would be an immense advan- tage to me, upon the issuance of my next best seller, if I could have an appropriate costume in which to walk up and down Broad- way; thus calling attention to my personality. Of course, I under- stand that unless this costume is designed in the right way it might fall flat. This is the reason I am vriting to you. Please let me know at once, as I expect to write another book this weck and wish to advertise myself in any way pos- sible, in accordance with the usual custom.” We are obliged, temporarily, to re- fuse this gentleman’s request. We have too much respect for American literature 10 lend our influence in ad- vertising any author, Besides, we do not believe it would pay. This gentle- man is evidently an exception. The average American author is too mod- est and would scorn any cheap attempt to advertise himself, either personally or in the papers; but if we can hit upon any scheme which will dignify the profession, or any costumes which will produce the right effect upon the public mind, we may take up this matter later. Life's Fashion Reform League.