Life, 1912-12-05 · page 106 of 116
Life — December 5, 1912 — page 106: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page mixes advertisement with satirical social commentary. **The Perfume Ad (top/left):** A standard luxury advertisement for "Coeur de Jeannette" perfume by Houbigant, a prestigious French brand. The text emphasizes perfume's power to enhance female "charm" and attractiveness to men—typical early 20th-century marketing that conflated women's value with romantic appeal. **The Satirical Story (right): "The Wife Who Was Popular"** critiques female self-sacrifice through irony. A village wife gains popularity not through beauty or accomplishment, but through constant unpaid labor—organizing church bazaars, serving on committees, leading civic organizations. **The Satire's Point:** While neighbors praise her indispensability, they simultaneously scold her for neglecting her own home and children. The story exposes the impossible bind of domesticity: women are valued for public volunteer work yet condemned for failing at private domestic duties. Her worth lies entirely in serving others' needs. **The Juxtaposition:** The perfume ad promising women can attract men through fragrance sits awkwardly beside a story where a woman's complete exhaustion from uncompensated service is called "popularity"—suggesting the gap between marketed femininity and actual female experience.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HERE is no more fascinating problem to y solve than that of woman's charm for man. It is conceded that the imaginative appeal | | from certain perfumes does enhance the fascination of | // a woman’s personality; it is certain that her attractive- ness is greatly increased by the exquisite charm of Coeur de eannette (HEART OF JEANNETTE) The subtle power of its appeal is the Glory of the Flowers, created in this odor by the leading perfumer of France and of the world HOUBIGANT—Paris. At all leading dealers, 2 oz. bottle, $3.15. | If you wish to make trial of an adequate sample, send us 20c and name | of this magazine. { FOR HOLIDAY GIFTS the beautiful sentiment of the season is most filly conveyed by the exclusive originations of | the house of Houbigant, Paris—truly exclusive in quality, i character and appearance—a splendid selection of Extracts i cf favorite flowers, Toilet Waters, Toilet Soaps, Powders for the skin i and for Sachets, Vanity Boxes, Bath Salts, Shaving Soaps and Creams. | Coeur de Jeannette is a “subtle caress” of tropical fragrance—most delicate and dainty. i More pronounced is Houbigant’s famous Ideal, 214 oz. bottle, $4.25—a rich bouquet. | Peau d'Espagne. 214 oz. bottle, $2.60, is a man’s perfume—positive, masculine. Violette | Houbigant. 2!4 oz. bottle, $6.25, is a reminiscence of shady woods, a master achieve- } ment in the making of a violet odor. (Leading perfumers generally sell at these prices.) | Houbigant brings to you the perfumed moonlight in his Jasmin; his La Rose France is an epitome of Pompadour and the salons of old France: Houbigant's Giroflce is a languor- ous dream; his Lilies of the Valley (Muguet) an exotic rapture and his Carnaticn of the King (Ocillet du Roi) a royal duplicate of this exquisite flower—each one a revelation of unique fragrance and exquisitely good taste to its delighted recipient. | Houbigant Book of Finest Perfumes and Toilet Articles de | Luxe, in colors, with descriptions, gladly mailed to anyone PARK & TILFORD, 225 Fifth Avenue, NEW YORK | Sole Agents in United States and Canada ee The Wife Who Was Popular NCE there was a wife who was the most popular woman in the village. This was not because she was particularly handsome or cultured or possessed un- usual accomplishment, but ‘because she would work. Whenever there was anything out of the ordinary to be done, they could always depend on her to take an active part. She was a leading spirit in the Woman's Club and served on half a dozen committees. When there was a church bazaar they depended on her to attend to the decorations, arrange the raffles, make the candy and see that everything went off all right. Every Monday night she gttended the meeting of the council and assisted the solons in keeping the village clean, neat and efficient. She took a deep interest in the welfare of the hospital, the Children’s Fresh Air Fund and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She did all this gladly and with unbounded enthusiasm. Her heart swelled with pride to know that she was an integral and indispensable factor of the civic welfare Her only regret was that it took up her time. When the neighbors called she apologized profusely for the slat- ternly condition of herself, her house and her children, saying that somehow she simply couldn't find time to at- tend to them. And the neighbors would go away and say it was strange that she could arrange the decorations of the church so beautifully and yet have practically no decorations at home. She would also apologize to her husband, admitting the justice of all his complaints concerning the unkempt state of the house and the children, and promise that she would be able to get around to them soon as the private the- atricals for the benefit of homeless pets were out of the way. Her husband listened to all she said and pondered it well. He was a practical man and could see that ev thing she said was the exact truth. So he said to himself: “Here I am married to the most popular woman in town, and I am extremely proud of the fact, but I should not let_ my own petty concerns and comforts interfere with those larger ac ies. It is most selfish of me to want her to narrow her field down to taking charge of a single establishment.” ‘ye Having pondered this well and convinced himself that it was the only just and proper attitude for a self-sacrific- ing husband to take, he waited until preparations were well under way for the Society Circus and Street Fair, which were to occupy of the village’s time and a month or two of his wi ; and then he quietly bought a ticket to Reno, resolved to sacrifice himself and thus release his wife for a more boundless sphere of duty. Moral—Husbands are not always selfish TYPOGRAPHICALLY SPEAKING POSTER OLD STYLE AND SKELETON ANTIQUE. comicbooks