Life, 1912-04-04 · page 31 of 80
Life — April 4, 1912 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three distinct pieces of social commentary: **"Different Creatures"** satirizes gender differences in fashion. The text argues that men can dress appropriately for any occasion by simply hiring a tailor, while women—despite spending lavishly on clothes, consulting fashion magazines, and planning meticulously—remain perpetually uncertain about their appearance. The satire targets women's anxiety about fashion conformity and suggests the impossibility of their achieving satisfaction. **"What Is a Minister?"** mocks organized religion's social function. It argues ministers exist to manage souls and to encourage the poor toward contentment while exhorting the rich toward generosity—efforts the author notes are unsuccessful. Yet society undervalues ministers, paying them as though their efforts *were* successful. The satire critiques both religious hypocrisy and society's begrudging support of clergy. **"Madrigal"** is a romantic poem about fashioning gifts from emotion. The accompanying illustrations show various social scenes and "The Romance of a Trapeze Performer"—a figure climbing outside a building, likely illustrating theatrical or precarious life.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
DIFFERENT CREATURES Dress woman. A man can when he is dressed up. He can take a given amount of money, select a tailor al- most at random and secure the pre- cise thing which will make him feel thoroughly at ease on any occasion. Not so with a woman. No matter ‘ow much she spends, no matter how nany fashion journals she takes, no natter how well recommended her diste may be, no matter what she may select in the way of materials, trimmings and style, no matter how she has planned for the perfection of every detail, no matter how plethoric her wardrobe is, she is never man and always tell T! s one important difference between quite sure. No sooner does she ar- rive at a function that she sees some- thing entirely different and she is im- mediately enveloped with sundry, divers and variegated misgivings. What Is a Minister > Ww! EN men first discovered they had souls they set to work to develop experts to take charge of them. Hence ministers. Ministers are of great value to the community. Ministers exhort the poor to be con- tent and the rich to be liberal and, while they are unsuccessful in both efforts, we thank them just the same, although, of course we do not pay them so much as if their efforts were successful. 695 Madrigal HIS do I make you, belovéd, Out of my dreams of silver, rland of silver To wear in your ruddy hair. This do I make you, beloved, Out of my utter longing, A chain of tears like diamonds, To wear on your throbbing thros This do I make you, beloved, Out of my great adoration, A heart of glowing crimson To wear on your wondrous heart. THE ROMANCE OF PERFORMER A TRAPEZE comicbooks.com