Life, 1913-05-15 · page 20 of 52
Life — May 15, 1913 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces mocking early 1900s social issues: **"School for Suffragettes"** (top): A biting parody advertisement attacking women's suffrage activists. It mockingly promises to train young women in "stump speaking," remove their "femininity," teach political corruption and bribery, and instruct them in "window smashing"—referencing actual property damage by militant British suffragettes. The satire suggests suffragists are unfeminine, corrupt, and violent, reflecting anti-suffrage propaganda common before women gained voting rights. **"Long on Wage Earners"** (middle): A cartoon joke about a poor man with eight children planning to move to Alabama to escape work, paired with text about a woman trained in "eugenics"—the pseudoscientific movement advocating selective breeding. This reflects contemporary anxieties about poverty, large families, and eugenics pseudoscience. **"Signs"** (bottom): Humorous observations about roadside signs, comparing them to human behavior—unreliable, self-serving, and often dishonest. The page satirizes progressive-era social movements and attitudes toward working-class life.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
976 School for Suffragettes E take pleasure in announcing our school for suffragettes, pleasantly situated on the Hudson River, just above Tarrytown. The school is designed to turn out the most finished kinds of suffragettes in from three to four years. Classes are now forming and applicants should send in their names at once. If you have a young daughter who displays ability in any direction, send her to us at once—the earlier the bet- ter. Some of our unrivaled features are as follows: Stump Speaking.—We train the voice and perfect our pupils in all kinds of oratory, teach them to speak from the back of an apple cart, a Pull- man car or an automobile. Appearance.—We guarantee __ posi- tively to remove all traces of femi- ninity inside of one year. Politics—Our course in ward poli- tics is complete. We teach all methods of bribe-giving and taking, all manip- ulation, and, in fact, the intricacies of the machine. Window Smashing —We teach all of our pupils how to throw straight, and guarantee that after a six months’ course they can put a brick through a window one hundred feet away. Terms moderate. Don’t delay. At any moment your daughter may run off and marry some man. Better send her to us at once, where she will be re- moved from all such dangers. Long on Wage Earners HAT’S up, old man; you look as happy as a lark!" “Happy? Why shouldn't’ I look happy? No more hard, weary work for yours truly, I've got eight kids and I'm .going to move to Alabama!” “MY DEAR, WHAT A GREAT DEAL OF UNPLEASANT KNOWLEDGE YOU SEEM TO HAVE.” “YES, AUNTIE, BUT YOU KNOW I'VE DONE A LOT OF WORK IN EUGENICS.” Signs HERE are a great many kinds of signs—railroad signs, circus signs, weather signs and signs of the times. There are also, especially among marricd men, signs of trouble. Doctors’ signs frequently point the way to the cemetery. Signs are often scen upon landscapes, where they generally occupy reserved seats and take precedence over trees, grass, flowers and other relics of barbarism. Signs are in all colors, shapes and sizes. The object of every sign is to be scen. The more any sign is looked at, especially if the one who looks at it has money, the better the sign likes Signs, while generally healthy, often have bad spells. They are also stingy. A sign which tells you it is three miles to the next town usually cuts the distance in half—especially if you have to walk it Some signs are very pleasant; others acquire.a mean dis- position from living on crossroads. Sometimes a crooked sign is the only one that tells the truth, Signs are a good deal like some human beings. They are always trying to thrust their advice upon you; and half the time they don't know what they are talking about. WHY BUY A ROCKING-HORSE? ET a gossip wound up and she will run somebody down. comicbooks.com Mw —