Life, 1912-03-21 · page 43 of 52
Life — March 21, 1912 — page 43: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes early-20th-century medical optimism and consumer culture's promise of perpetual self-improvement. The narrative follows a man named Gillson who visits a hospital and encounters a patient who has replaced his lungs with an apparatus allowing him to float via compressed gas—treating his body as casually replaceable machinery. The satire escalates when Gillson, inspired and emboldened by his modest bank balance ($2,000), decides to replace his heart, stomach, and head with patent improvements, treating human anatomy like automobile parts. The doctor cheerfully quotes bulk-discount pricing ("fifty dollars apiece"). The joke critiques the era's faith in technological solutions to human existence and the commodification of the body. It also mocks consumerism's logic: having money means one *should* spend it on unnecessary upgrades. The Matheson automobile advertisement below reinforces this—quality goods "for those who use the best"—suggesting the same consumer mentality applied to cars and bodies alike.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“T feel so grateful for wha: “as been done for me,” he replied, “that I like to recommend this concern, You see, I had a new pair of lungs put in not long ago, and with them I have this device, whereby I can continuously inflate them with balloon gas. Of course I can now float along anywhere by carrying along a compressed gas tank, Gives me some- thing to do. If I were a man with a family I might not care about it, but, being a bachelor, and leading a lonely life, T have a very pleasant occupation. Scenery changes every moment. Carry my own views around with me, Don't have to visit mountains in summer. Just give myself an uplift, and I'm off. Se Sure enough, he was off. For as Gill- son gazed he disappeared above the housetops. Gillson had now scen enough. He lost no time in getting to his bank. “How much moncy is there to my credit?” he asked of the paying teller. “Two thousand.” Good! His new heart had only cost him a paltry fifty dollars, so he felt that he could afford to be extravagant. He hurried back to the hospital. J, as soon as he could obtain an inte h that very much occupied individual, “If you don't mind I should like to have a new stomach put in—let’s see, yes, here's the name—and I should also like to have a patent head that whirls about, and a pair of those If You Want Bearing’ Results Use or Specify “Will not metallize the oil’’ NON-GRAN costs more—but we are speaking about Its The leading Manufacturers of Motar Cars and Motor Cycles use NON- N exclusively in all bronze bearing parts because it will not metallize the oil and because it therefore permits full efficiency in all waking parts. For the Private Owner— For the Man Who Operates Truck: For the Man Who Operates Taxi For the Repairman— vt cast NON-GRAN in CORED-BARS. For your protection the name “NON-GRAN”? is cast on the genuine. Wehave Wholesale Distributors in every important city in the country. Drop us « postal for our Booklet Land the name of the Distributor | save you. He has these Bars in stock and can Sil your orders Doct permit the use of substitute bronzes in parts s0 important to the Weel your ear as its bearings—the parts that must stand the wear, AMERICAN BRONZE COMPANY Berwyn, Pa. ATENTS “Siiecn FEE RETURNED Send sketeh for free search of Patent Office Records Howto Obtala « Patent and What tolavent with list of Inventions wanted 04 prizes offered for inventions sent free. Patents advertised free. VICTOR J. EVANS & CO., Washington D.C. (Matheson | __— Silent Six.” Luxurious Libsed bodies of the | latest designs by Quinby and Brewster. A tried and proven chassis of remarkable workmanship. Built for Those Who Use the Best Mafheéson Automobile Company Wilkes-Barre, Peas. New York Salesrooms B'way at 62nd St. Boston Salesroome a 664, Commonwealth Ave. e lungs which enable one to float. Also, anything else that may suggest itsclf to you. I want all the modern improve- ments. I want to be right up to dai “Certainly,” replied the doctor. “And I presume you would like an esti- If you would be so k “Oh, yes! We always let the patient know beforehand, as a matter of prin- ciple, just how much it will be. Now, of course, if these operations were all to be performed separately, I should have 7 to charge you at least fifty dollars apiece, but having them done in lump. will reduce the expense. Now, I can fix you up in first-class shape, and throw in a month's board in the bargain, for two hundred dollars. This includes, of course, any little extras, such as a pair of arms, that I may happen to think of.” Gillson wrote out a check, “ You may begin at once,” he cried. “I can’t wait to be fixed up. I have long wanted to have a continuous diet of marrons glacés —never had enough of them in my life— comicbooks.com