Life, 1913-06-19 · page 41 of 52
Life — June 19, 1913 — page 41: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains multiple unrelated items typical of early 20th-century satirical magazines: **"Erring in Company"** is a humorous poem by Franklin P. Adams (credited as from *The Wasp*) that justifies various personal failings by claiming famous historical figures—Shakespeare, Pope, Byron, Burns—committed the same errors. It's lighthearted self-deprecation. **"A Happy Marriage"** and **"Sexology"** are advertisements for an instructional book about sexual education, reflecting early-1900s attitudes toward marriage education. **"The Fag-Free 'Fans'"** is a B.V.D. underwear advertisement showing men in the street during hot weather. "Fag-free" here means "free from fatigue," not a slur; the ad promotes comfortable undergarments for heat. The photograph shows actual street crowds, likely staged. **"Sermons"** is a brief satirical commentary defining sermons cynically—as attempts to make people believe things the preacher hasn't experienced, obtained from unreliable sources like the Bible and newspapers. It's gentle mockery of religious hypocrisy. The page is primarily advertising and light humor, not political satire.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Erring in Company (“If I have erred I err in company with Abraham — Lincoln.” — Theodore Roosevelt.) If e’er my rhyming be at fault, If e’er I chance to scribble dope, If that my metre ever halt, I err in company with Pope. An that my grammar go awry, * An that my English be askew, Soon I can prove an alibi— The Bard of Avon did it, too. If often toward the bottled grape * My errant fancy fondly turns, Remember, jeering jackanape, I err in company with Burns. If now and then I sigh “ Mine Own!” Unto another's wedded wife, Remember I am not alone— Hast ever read Lord Byron's life? If frequently I fret and fume, And absolutely will not smile, I err in company with Hume, Old Socrates and T. Carlyle. If c’er I fail in etiquette, And foozle on the Proper Stuff Regarding manners, don't forget A. Tennyson's were pretty tough. Eke if I err upon the side Of talking overmuch of Me, err, it cannot be denied, In most illustrious company. —Franklin P. Adams, in The Wasp. We keep the senses perpetually stimu- lated with a million ideas of the eternal feminine; and our very language re- flects the strain. The Western civiliza- tion is using all its arts, its sciences, its philosophy in stimulating and exaggerat- ing and exacerbating the thought of sex. An Oriental would almost faint with astonishment and shame to sce a Western ballet—Lafcadio Hearn. “I see Bill has fitted his car with a new siren.” “Yes; good-looking, too.” —Harvard Lampoon. A Happy Marriage Depends largel on a knowledge of the whole truth about self and sex and their relatiou to life and health. This knowl- edge does not come in- telligently of itself, nor correctly from ordinary, every-day sources. SEXOLOGY , (Illustrated) by Wiliam HF 19, A.M., M.D., imparts in a clear (o one Coline a a uid 1 rt Kates Radian theate UP ERTS 2 owledge a Young Woman Should Have. Knowledge a Young Wife Should Have. Knowitdgs a Mother Should Empart to Her Daughter Medical Rnowledge a Wife should Hares enter: All in one volume. Illustrated, $2, postpaid. Write for “Other People's Opinions” and Table of Contents, Puritan Pub. Co. 776 Perry Bldg., Phila., Pa. oN RRR A Ti Ty The Fag-Free ‘‘Fans”? Wear B. V. D. oot and comfortable despite the grueling heat, the fag-free ‘‘fans’? in the foreground wear Loose Fitting, Light Woven B. V. D. Coat Cut Undershirts and Knee Length Drawers, or Union Suits. Why don’t you put on B. V. D. and “cool off”? | To get genuine B. V. D. get a good look at the Zabel. On every B. V. D. Undergarment is sewed This Red Woven Label (Trade Mark Ret, U. 8. Pat. OF, and Foreign Countries. Insist that your dealer sells you only underwear with the B. V. D. label. B.V.D. Coat Cut Undershirts and Knee Length Drawers, 50¢., 75c., $1.00 and $1.50 the Garment. B.V.D, Union Suits (Pat, U.S.A. 4-30-07.) $1.00, $1.50, $2.00, $3.00 and $5.00 the Suit. The B.V.D. Company, New York. London Selling Agency: 66 Avpermannury, E. C. IIT ET MD. Company. Sermons ERMONS are of three kinds:—long, short and broad, but not deep. Sometimes S a short sermon seems longer than a long sermon. But no sermon is so short that it could not be shorter. The idea of a sermon is to make people believe in something of which you have had no experience, in such a way that they will tell others they know it is so because you have said"it. Sermons are obtained from the Bible, and newspapers; as to which is the more unreliable, authorities differ. Nothing exceeds "ke some sermons. There are various substitutes for the sermon. Among other popular varieties are sleep and golf balls; also Sunday papers and fishing rods. comicbooks.com