Life, 1912-07-04 · page 42 of 44
Life — July 4, 1912 — page 42: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page combines satirical fiction with period advertisements (typical for Life magazine). **"An Object Lesson" Story:** The narrative mocks class pretension. A wealthy Fifth Avenue belle, Isabel Sawtelle, dismisses a young cooper (barrel-maker) suitor because of his working-class status. The satire escalates absurdly: after she rejects him to marry an aristocrat, years of catastrophic family disasters follow—her husband dies of delirium tremens, her father goes mad, her brothers go to prison, her mother steals clams, her sister rides horses in the circus. The moral, credited to the *Denver Republican*, sarcastically concludes: "it is always best to marry a mechanic." **The Satire:** This attacks snobbish materialism and class prejudice, suggesting that marrying "down" to an honest working man would have been preferable to the chaos of aristocratic life. It's a morality tale dressed as dark comedy. **Advertisements:** The page includes typical early-1900s ads for motor graphite, writing paper, and whiskey—unrelated to the story but reflecting magazine revenue.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
An Object Lesson Inve ‘sumptiously furnished parlor in For Fine Correspondence or General Business Uses Fifth Avenue, New York, sat_a proud and haughty belle. Her name was Isabel | oe Sawtelle. Her father was a millionaire, Whiting Papers are Standard his ships, richly laden, plowed many a sea. By the side of Isabel Sawtelle sat a ( A business letter on paper of superior quality has a eee decidedly greater attraction for the reader than one OL must 0,” he said: “the foreman * on inferior paper. It gets more attention as a matter will wonder at my absence.” 3 ys of psychology. Just as a money proposition you “The foreman?” asked Isabel in a : should use for your business stationery such high-grade foneofusurpeire. 5 papers as those that bear the world-famed Whiting “Yes, the foreman of the shop where 1 work, : Bocce ayy —shon—work! Aviat! Hao ; : When you think of Writing think of Whiting “ Aye, Miss Sawtelle. I am a cooper name. They are America’s best. A S WHITING PAPER COMPANY NEW YORK PHILADELPHIA cHIcAGO Statistics prove that imperfect lubrication causes more than half the motor car troubles. Most oi these are cured by the use of Flake Graphite, which produces on bearing surfaces a thin, tough veneer that Cee eee ees | Boll any Cornell Sectional Cottage; of bearings. DIXON’S r} sor Soneeene enon sr to ocr Up Motor Graphite ; “ar ba (Pulverized Flake) Mix it with your own choice of lubricants or we will do itfor you, as we manulacture a full line of greases con- taining Dixon's Motor Graphite. Sia higveves:Aashedwith bi Ask your dealer for Dixon's Graphite Lubricant No. 677 “Wha =a highest quality mineral grease scientifically combined a : with, Dixon's ‘Motor Graphite. Fine for something about barrels, isn't it ifferentials and transmissions. More « id wit ‘ ! Serer thas Haina Peaaae __{ltise” he said with a flashing nostril qyTHE EMPEROR CALIG Seod_ vane and mosel of car for free booklet And hogsh: don't care a nickel howbigua: HUG, “Lebrkatiog the Shae “Then go!” she said, in a tone of dis- Iallve 1 could be Joseph Dixon dain—" go away ; “Hat” he cried, “you spurn me then Crucible Co. because I am a mechanic. Well, be it Sievploe, ir R Jersey City, New Jersey so, though the time will come, Isabel ie | Sawtelle,” he added—and nothing could exceed his looks at this moment—" when you will bitterly remember the cooper she you now cruclly cast off! Farewell!” Years rolled on. Isabel Sawtelle mar- ried a miserable aristocrat, who’ recently died of delirium tremens. Her father failed and is now a raving maniac and . wants to bite little children, All her Lrothers (except one) were sent to the penitentiary for burglary, and her mother peddles clams that are stolen by little 4 orge, her only son that has his free- . dom. Isabel's sister Bilanca rides an im- mortal spotted horse in the cireus, her husband having long since been hanged for murdering his own uncle on his FIRST \ ‘ mother’s side. Thus we sce that it is always best to marry a mechanic OVER THE BARS : —Denver Republican. BEST = : 1\7 Would Be in a Hole OVER THE BARS : =I FAskY .Gadtehisgrthe golfers): OF t see anny difference bechune thot | an’ wor-rk, ‘Sod 4s a) . O'Biaex: Vez don't, eh! Well ycz would whin ps kem around —Boston Transcript comicbook be m GOCCOCOOOOCOOCO 2COOOOOOOSCOOOSOD00'