Life, 1912-04-04 · page 59 of 80
Life — April 4, 1912 — page 59: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a satirical short story titled "The Quite Impossible Lady: A Modern Fairy Tale" alongside period advertisements. **The Satire:** The story mocks idealized Victorian notions of wifely perfection. It describes a woman with flawless appearance who never complains, manages five children without hired help, and maintains composure through domestic chaos. The humor emerges when her husband—"the tired business man"—refuses her request for evening entertainment, claiming *he* needs amusement instead. The satire targets both the impossible standards imposed on women and the self-centered entitlement of husbands who expect wives to manage everything while remaining cheerful servants. **Historical Context:** This reflects early 20th-century anxieties about gender roles and marriage. The "tired business man" was a stock figure in period humor, often portrayed as exhausted by work yet oblivious to his wife's labor. **Advertisements:** The page includes ads for Harper Whiskey and the National 40 automobile—luxury goods marketed to affluent men, reinforcing the page's class assumptions about who reads Life magazine.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
y-school in Califor. 1 mea, to9, man, who cut in Sag on Pace « home 19 ifornia to ool Asso. 1 sweetly ime read. cr a while 1, a Pro. they also 1 his to conver. 2 on bis one of the ith the other sig. asked the co. pe lieve?” tinued, ris n'l Agent f Engle york hedral Rest and Continest, gute), prmarise § LIFE- The Quite Impossible Lady \ MODERN FAIRY TALE Once upon a time there lived a lady who had five children; and her lips were as red as blood, her brow was gs smooth as wax, her hair was as black as coal and she nearly always smiled. When the baby had the colic she paregoric and toasted the f his feet and rocked him nd did not send for a trained gave h bottom to sleep nurse. + husband came home at was beautifully dressed and frankly enjoyed her dinner. She did \in of nerves nor of the serv- tid she say that her husband ve her as he did before they 1 She hardly ever com- not con ight after dinner, when her started out to his club, she n back : * she said, “and let us amuse r this evening.” my dear,” replied the husband, ,ot able to amuse any one to- AM THE TIRED BUSINESS MAN and must be amused myself.” husbas, Fl oLp L.w. ES HARPER | GRANDFATHER USED STILLTHE BEST. Note style oe bottling This is the Guaranteed Original Package. A perfect whiskey of the Old School. favorite with connoisseurs. ar : tecommended by the better calers, BERNHEIM DISTILLING CO. LOUISVILLE, KY. Do. World’s-stock Champion “National 40” Five-; Road-race Champion passenger Touring Car *‘Second Nature’’ Motoring ENUINE pleasure in motoring is only possible when your control becomes second nature to you—when you are uncon- scious of any effort. Man and machine can only harmonize when there is perfection of design and construction in the automobile, and when the man has that confidence in himself which comes of confidence in the machine —when he knows it. No other car rides as easily or gives such uniformly satisfactory service as The National. ‘Twelve years of concentrated effort and applied knowledge produce National quality. The National is not merely the fastest and most d woman can handle dignity, elegance and minute refinement of det: le stock car in the world; it’s ily as an electric and it has the every woman loves. “National 40”—Four Models, $2600 to $3000 ; CHAMPION IN CONDITION Absolutely noiseless; low, spacious bodies with straight, strong lines; self starter; deep uphol- stery; easy riding, 128-inch wheel doors; powerful 2 motor, ¢ 7-8 x 6, al speration; larg s smart slope to trol with left-hand driv running rd; gas and electric lights; access to both front doors; always dign ified and serene in action, And, the Natonal's| herite age of reliability, power, speed and general atmosp: here of elegance. se; wide 4 quiet in CHAMPION IN POSITION *s most phenomenal race record was made by National Cars last season, crowning their past ances. They won 8¢ é firsts. mn ese ‘victories, proving National guality,are: World's fastest read race, average 74.63 miles per hour; world’s fastest stock straight-away mile, 40.32 : Elgin National Trophy (stock), 305 miles, average 66.4 miles per hour. Nationals have shown superiority over cars of greater cost on road, hill, beach, track, etc. For catalog or other information, addre: NATIONAL MOTOR VEHICLE COMPANY 1021 East Twenty-second Street INDIANAPOLIS, IND. “You are nothing of the kind,” de- clared his wife with true wifely im- politeness. “You have been doing something that you liked all day, and there is no sense in your being more than comfortably glad of a change. That is no reason why you should sit in the front row of the theatre and de- cide about the figures of the end ladies of the chorus; nor why you should sit at the club and talk business for the rest of the evening.” 13 “But you,” demurred the husband, “are you not tired?” “Why should I be?” inquired the lady. “The children—the servants—your bridge club——” murmured the hus- band, disconnectedly. “The children do not tire me—I en- joy them,” said the wife. “It is much more fun to wash their faces and put them to bed than it used to be to do the same things for my dolls. I do comicbooks.com