Life, 1912-12-19 · page 16 of 40
Life — December 19, 1912 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents satirical commentary on theatrical exploitation of patrons. The left illustration depicts well-dressed theatergoers, while the text uses heavy irony to mock theater managers' fee-extraction schemes. The satire targets contemporary theater abuses: inflated ticket prices through scalpers, excessive tips demanded by coat-room and usher staff, overpriced programs (10 cents), cramped seating designed to maximize capacity, and constant upselling (peanuts, lemonade). The author sarcastically "praises" managers for these practices while implicitly condemning them as nickel-and-diming patrons. The piece concludes with a harsh observation: Americans lack the "spine" to resist these "small impositions," especially men afraid to appear cheap before women—calling American men "moral cowards." The right section discusses the play "Hindle Wakes," which addresses the double standard in sexual morality between men and women—contemporary social commentary theater.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
. My, Meg Wem, THE JOY OF THEATREGOING THE THEATRICAL MANAGERS DESERVE MORE THAN TIE PUBLIC GIVES THEM FOR THEIR EFFORTS TO MAKE THEATREGOING A PLEASURE FREE FROM ANNOYANCE, THE PATRON WHO HAS SCURRIED FROM TICKET SPECULATOR TO TICKET SPEC- ULATOR FOR THE PRIVILEGE OF CONTRIBUTING AN EXTRA FIFTY CENTS ON EACIE TICKET TO THE MANAGERIAL TREASURY SHOULD PAY MORE FOR THAT EXASPER- ATING EXHILARATION, THE ASSAULTS OF THE COAT-ROOM ATTENDANTS AS ONE ENTERS THE THEATRE ADD TO THE GENERAL PLEASURE, AND 1f THE TIPS WERE MADE LARGER THE COAT- ROOM PRIVILEGE WOULD NET MORE MONEY FOR THE MANAGERS. TEN CENTS IS ALTOGETHER TOO SMALL A PRICE FOR THE PROGRAMMES, THE LADY OR GENTLEMAN WHO IS FORCED TO DIG DOWN INTO IIS OK HER APPAREL TO FETCM UP THAT AMOUNT MIGHT JUST AS WELL PRODUCE A QUAKTER. IT HURTS THE FEELINGS OP THE PUBLIC TO SEE THE USHERS AND COAT-ROOM BOYS IDLING THROUGH THE PERFORMANCE. THEY OUGHT TO BE CIRCULATING THROUGH THE MOUSE SELLING PEANUTS AND PINK LEMONADE, THIS WOULD GIVE THE PUBLIC ANOTHER CHANCE TO CONTRIBUTE. THE SEATS IN MUST OF THE THEATRES ARE TOO WIDE, AND THERE 1S TOO MUCH SPACE BETWEEN THE ROWS. AS IT IS, CHILDREN AND DWARFS CAN BE COMFORTABLE IN THEM. IF 1HEY WERE ONLY A LITTLE NARROWER AND CLOSER TOGETHER, NO ONE COULD BE COMFORTABLE, AND THERE WOULD NE MORE SEATS FOR THE MANAGER TO SEL! ALL THESE TITINGS ADD AN AIR OF ELEGANCE TO THE THEATRE AND PUT THE SPECTATOR IN A CHEERFUL FRAME OF MIND TO ENJOY AND APPLAUD TILE PER- FORMANCE. GO TO IT, MANAGERS. THINK UP SOME MORE PETTY EXACTIONS WIIICIE WILL PUT MONEY IN YOUR PURSES. THE AMERICAN LIKES IT ME MASN’T ANY SPINE TO RESENT SMALL IM- PECIALLY IF THERE ARE WOMEN FOLKS AROUND, NE’S AFRAID K E'S A PIKER. GO AS FAR AS YOU LIKE, He’S A MORAL COWARD AND WON'T RESENT IT, SOAK IT TO HIM. ONE THING HAS B OVERLOOKED, JUST NEFORE THE LAST ACT THE CON. TRIBUTION BAG SHOULD BE PASSED FOR THE BENEFIT OF TH® MANAGER. A Little More Free Discussion OT since Miss Rachel Crothers’s “ A Man’s World" have we had quite so frank a set- ting forth of the in- justice of the double standard of morality as is given in “ Hindle Wakes.” Of course these dra- matic presentments of such problems bring us no nearer solutions except in so far as thcy stimulate discussion, The world is revolving very rapidly just now and we progress so fast that, if the double standard is assailed often enough on the stage and elsewhere, some of our twentieth century cure-alls may find a remedy for an injustice which is almost as ancient as sex itself. At all events a great many persons like to think and talk about it, and they will find plenty of stimulant for discussion in “ Hindle Wakes.” 'HE settling factor in this play is the one which fs going to have great weight in the settlement of the prob- COMPOSITE DRAMAS “BROADWAY JONES” GETS A LITTLE “READY MONEY comicbooks¥éom!