Life, 1913-03-20 · page 26 of 44
Life — March 20, 1913 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes suburban American life and fashion trends circa the 1920s. **"The Suburbs" Essay:** The unsigned editorial (bylined T.L.M.) mocks suburban culture as economically unsustainable—residents "live beyond their incomes" and mortgage homes for automobiles. It critiques the suburban ideal by noting that suburbanites constantly commute to the city despite claiming independence, and that railroads exploit suburb-to-city traffic while blaming their expenses on poor servants. The tone is sharply satirical, suggesting suburbs are pretentious illusions. **"Equal Partners" Jokes:** These brief comedic exchanges mock marriage dynamics—one implies a wife's infidelity is split with a consulting physician (who shares the estate), the other jokes about a suitor's divided attention kissing a daughter. **Fashion Cartoon:** The "American Fashions for American Women Movement" ridicules regional fashion absurdities—Reno's "broken" bodice, Milwaukee's beer-stein-inspired waist, Salt Lake City's polygamy reference ("husband's weddings"), and Philadelphia's calendar-fabric dress. The satire targets American regionalism and women's fashion pretension.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
charm. It ivid opment of the musical skirt. Incompatibility comedy and operabox of design should be as HE suburbs are places where men live beyond their incomes as long as they can stand it, before they are obliged to move into the city in order to economize, The suburbs consist of trees, mosquitoes in season, school taxes all the year around, Queen Anne and Mary Ann architecture, and womans’ clubs. The suburbs also have churches, which can be seen from any golf links on a pleasant day. The people who live in the suburbs are divided into two classes: those who have mortgaged their homes to buy autos and those who have mortgaged anything else they may have, for the same purpose. Every suburb is supposed to be ser- vantless. It is not generally known, however, that the railroad companies have entered into a combine with the *LIFE= The Suburbs servants’ agencies; thus by constantly changing suburban cooks, the rail- roads are able to meet their heavy ex- penses in traffic profits. If you are inclined to sympathize with the rail- roads because they have such a load to bear, please remember that, like the Catholic Church, they are supported by the poor. The suburbs has always existed, so far as we know. Adam was created in one, and it was only his anxiety to see the Great White Way that caused all the trouble that came later. Horace had his suburban villa. Omar Khayyam was a suburbanite. Louis XIV lived in a suburban cottage at Versailles and everybody in the neigh- borhood used to come over and sit on his piazza and crochet and read aloud, sometimes not going home until two or three o'clock in the morning. Every suburb of which we have ever heard is only forty minutes from the City Hall. Why any suburbanite | tl WA CS | | SS | uli ( TC 2D) z should care to make constant trips to any city hall, when he can stay at home and meet his creditors on a fairly friendly basis at any hour of the day and night, we have never been able to understand. It is important selecting a suburb, to secure one which your friends who live in the city will never want to visit more than once. T. L. M. Equal Partners IECE: called in a consulting phy for my uncle. Frienp: The consulting physician shared the blame, I suppose? Nisce: Yes, and the estate. And at the last moment we n OUNG man, weren't you kissing my daughter in the back parlor just now?” “Well, only about half the time, sir!” A A OL THE “AMERICAN FASHIONS FOR AMERICAN WOMEN" MOVEMENT xEW yoRK RENO licity of The latest decree its chief of the Reno designers a devel- calls for a divided modes, with a hint of Pronounced as the the Oriental dancer in non-support, of | the the trimmings. bodice. A broken tie is worn about the neck and a liberty cap on the head. MILWAUKEE SALT LAKE CITY A straight-front, no A gown of heavily hip creation in amber ribbed material in with a waist and col- old. A gold band to lar of white chiffo be added “for each of The hand should one’s husband's wed- ways be worn on the — dings. (Note.—This hip to represent the style is _ considered handle of the stein. bad form for the first few wives.) PHILADELPHIA A frock of assorted calendars (none to be eye maple less than two years ela) cok in, simple “shape with arts and uaker fashion. The crafts trimmings. clocks in the ‘stock- Windsor collar com- ings must be at least _pletes the effect. four hours slow, comicbooks.com Pressed into mission oo" ov go