Life, 1913-01-02 · page 17 of 44
Life — January 2, 1913 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces typical of Life's social commentary: 1. **"Life's Birthday Cake"** (recipe format): A whimsical metaphorical recipe by Kate Masterson describing Life magazine's editorial ingredients—wisdom, justice, satire, art, and humor—presented as if baking a cake. It's self-promotional satire about the magazine's own values. 2. **"A New Birth"** (grammar satire): Mocks the Interstate Commerce Commission's recent railroad report for egregiously violating the rule against split infinitives (placing adverbs between "to" and verbs). The magazine sarcastically notes this "exceeding the speed limit in split infinitives." 3. **"Good Form"** (social satire): The most biting piece. It mockingly suggests a formal announcement card for infidelity—a husband eloping with another woman—written as if it were a standard wedding announcement. This satirizes wealthy society's casual treatment of marital scandals and the absurdity of needing "proper form" for improper behavior.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life’s Birthday Cake 'AKE equal portions of good taste, wisdom, justice, freedom from prejudice and a friendly attitude toward the world in general. Beat into this mixture a square deal and moisten with the milk of human kindness. Stir this batter to a light foam with the flail of satire, but do not let it froth over or grow flat. Shake in some r peaches of prose here and there. the sparkling wine of criticism Flavor with joy and a few crushed love blossoms to impart sweetness to the whole. Let this stand for a while in a dewy place, so that it may not get stale or dry. As a structure for the cake, which will act as a corner- stone for the somewhat light ingredients recommended, build a graceful and well balanced foundation of art, beauty and light, touching the corners here and there with the citron of good judg Melt in a golden howl consistency, constant effort for perfection, fine quality and detestation of the ordinary. Powder over this lightly a dislike of sham, pretense, flip- pancy and the obvious. Dash in liberally a hatred of all forms of cruelty, op- pression and abuse of power, tinctured with a good fight- ing attitude toward evil. Blend in the honey of a playful spirit and grate over all some avoidance of the smug or commonplace. Bake in a quick, bright oven of warm hearted-ness, Cover completely with sugar, decorate with fresh roses of cheerfulness and good faith, bonbons of happiness and candles of increasing prosperity. Kate Masterson. A New Birth W thought that the split infinitive had been relegated to oblivion, but a resurrection has taken place of such startling significance that we cannot fail to record it In one column of the recent Interstate Commerce Commis- sion’s report on the N. Y., N. H. & H. R. R., we find the following : “—our plain duty to plainly report it” “—To bluntly and plainly point out to them” “nor have any attempts been made by this r to even—” —* shall be applied to properly supplement—” “To adequately satisfy their obligations. “ Railroads ought to unitedly experiment— We respectfully maintain this is exceeding the speed limit in split infinitives. ns of wit and plums of verse, with Spice with humor and 1913 Good Form Gers away with the other man’s wife has become so common in the best circles that one is surprised to find no accepted form of announcement. This lack is especially remarkable since there need be little difference between the wording of such a card and that of the com- mon wedding announcement. The following phrasing is suggested MRS. DE PUYSTER STURTEVANT announces the elopement of her husband, ALFRED WILLIAM, with MRS. GEORGE GLENN MONTMORENCY at 3.29 o'clock TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, Srom the PENNSYLVANIA STATION comicbooks.com