Life, 1912-03-14 · page 26 of 44
Life — March 14, 1912 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical story mocks a self-righteous, penny-pinching husband (Mr. Bulstrode Pettyman) confronting his wife's spending on fashionable clothing—specifically the "hobble skirt" and elaborate hats then in vogue. The joke targets wealthy men who claim financial hardship while displaying obvious prosperity (his "ample waistcoat"). Pettyman threatens punishment but lacks actual leverage: his wife ignores his protests and attends a bridge party in her new outfit, winning first prize. The next morning, he attempts to shame her by displaying something in the newspaper—presumably a public notice or announcement meant to humiliate her socially. The satire reveals the absurdity of a husband's control tactics against a woman who simply refuses to be cowed. The cartoon above shows figures literally blown away by money, visualizing the theme of reckless spending. The story critiques both spousal domination and empty threats from men who cannot enforce compliance.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
iS Vener ee THE SPENDTHRIFT The Shaming of the Shrewd M*. BULSTRODE PETTYMAN was angry, and justly so he conceived. His thrifty British soul re- volted against extravagance, and here his wife—— “Madam,” he said, addressing the little woman before him, majestically, ponderously, and his ample waistcoat swelled with indignation, “you have abused my confidence, betrayed the trust which I reposed in you as the bearer of my name and the—” He was about to add “the mother of my children,” but checked himself before the anachronism, Instead, he exclaimed, “ Look at that, and that!” Dramatically, he held out the dressmaker’s and mil- liner’s bills which had precipitated the dispute. “But you can afford the expense,” said Mrs. Pettyman, quietly. “Do you wish me to look like a dowd? I must dress like other women.” “Like other women!” snorted Mr. Pettyman, with a swelling of the diaphragm. “I would have you know—” The sentence remained unfinished. Suddenly he real- ized that the woman before him was no longer the quiet little provincial creature whom he had sought out and married a year before, as least likely to run counter to the ideals of wifely devotion cherished by himself and ex- emplified in the person of the first Mrs, Pettyman of sainted memory. The revelation came like a blow in the face. So gradually had the change operated that Mr. Pettyman, absorbed as he was by business and the weekly edition of the London Times, had failed to notice it, until here was his wife on the verge of the hobble skirt and the basket hat. It was the moment for drastic measures. Very well, he was prepared to take them. It seemed only a pity that he had not found a foeman more worthy of his steel. “Ahem! Mrs. Pettyman,” he observed, with an omi- nous change of tone, “ you have abused my confidence, as I said before. I shall take steps to prevent your doing so a second time. I wish’ you good morning.” Mrs. Pettyman did not reply, did not inquire what steps he proposed to take. Instead, she went quietly about her household duties, despatching them with the least possible waste of energy; then she arrayed herself in the offending hobble skirt and basket hat and proceeded to a bridge party, where she won first prize. No further mention was made of the bills by Mr. Pettyman that evening, ard one less familiar with his character than his wife might have concluded that the subject had passed from his mind. But Mrs. Pettyman had learned from experience. The next morning, after breakfast, he came into the drawing- room with the open newspaper in his hand. “Ahem! My dear, I informed you that I found myself constrained to take steps to check your extravagance. I have done so, as you see.” Therewith he held the newspaper before her eyes. Mrs. (Continued on page 550) comicbooks.com