Life, 1913-09-25 · page 34 of 43
Life — September 25, 1913 — page 34: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine contains satirical commentary on early 20th-century social issues alongside period advertisements. **The Main Satire ("Attention! Historians"):** This piece mockingly proposes preserving "genuine mothers"—women who perform traditional domestic labor (darning socks, washing dishes, praying)—as specimens for future historians, comparing them to preserved buffalo. The satire targets the women's suffrage movement by implying that activist women ("old maids") aren't "real mothers," and suggests that traditional motherhood represents a "vanishing race" worth documenting. The proposal to film proceedings treats homemakers as anthropological curiosities. **The Cartoon ("Beginning at Home"):** A suffragette demanding to "sweep the country" is told to start by sweeping her own dining room—a dismissive pun suggesting women activists should focus on housework instead of political rights. **Context:** These pieces reflect anti-suffrage sentiment common before women gained voting rights in 1920. The magazine satirizes both feminism and suffragists' arguments through exaggeration and condescension.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Attention! Historians HY not have an old-fashioned mothers’ day? By careful search and the exer- cise of some discrimination, it would probably be possible to obtain samples of representative mothers from various parts of the country. This convention would be somewhat different from the usual Mothers’ Congress, the majority of whom are more than likely to be old maids. A first condition would naturally be that every delegate to this committee must be a genuine mother—be able to darn socks, wash the dishes, make tidies and dust and sweep; also know the simple prayers which children at one time used to repeat. Is it not due to future historians that this mothers’ day be celebrated and its pro- ceedings be placed upon record? As a contribution to archzology it would be extremely edifying. By taking moving pictures of the proceedings it would be possible to furnish future generations with a rare representative of a vanishing race. This has been done with the buffalo; why not with the mother? In the Spotlight oe” Popularity “4- over 125 yrs. :— and men who are in the spotlight of bigaffairs—actors, literary men, Wh ©. newspaper men, business men— t ur with their keen, unfailing judg- al 1S € ora ment always select Carstairs Rye. B li New York's favorite—so mellow, aoe orealis tall clubs, hotels, cafes and res- H. Milter, the Naturalist, pres into the of the NORTHERN LIGHTS" gorecoes taurants patronized by men of taste. ae ohare in POPULAR ELECTRICITY. cod ‘he WORLD'S ADVANCE for Scar, @ (The numbered label shows our bot- Mbt Teak Sotto the Ble Ridge Woentins ead” 8 fosinating Marvel of the Age is presented. in the romantic story of an immense dis- trict revitalized and made over by a monster modern power development. Another little jump of 9000 miles to examine The Ancient Tanks of Aden those world-old Persian reservoirs at the Red Sea fortress, defying time where it never rains, is hotter than Hades, and mighty unhealthy for a white man. The Si 3 HO. Beginning at Home ; Iluminated Flying Fish a at Catalina Island is a spectacle of the Pacific Sub- Ww hat do the suffragettes want, any- I P ° Tarine Gardens sure to delight and astonish you. is howe” = y & f Wireless Between Germany and America We want to sweep the country, dad q F Piha is an accomplished fact, with direct New York-Berlin “Well, do not despise small begin- commercial service an early probability. Big things like nings. Suppose you make a start with this: thrill -youy,s0, should the dining-room, my dear. Protecting the Lives of 200,000 Steel Workers tle Courier-Journal. is] an immense “Safety First" campaign to reduce death ’ and danger for “the man on the job”. Dr. Robt. Grimshaw in ee Ww 5 Heaven-Born and Other Inventors aut: What are you doing now? H with delightful humor furnishes food, for thought to Gatt: Oh, I'm making a house-to- H over-ambitious folk anxious to patent “any old thing”. ‘And these are only typical of the 200 Fascinating Subjects fairly alive with devouring interest with 200 Absorbing Illustrations that combine to make up one of the most interesting and ructive popular magazines ever published. ULAR ELECTRICITY #}2 WORLD’S ADVANCE FOR OCTOBER Now on Sale at Your Newsdealer’s You must see a copy to really appreciate its wealth of interesting features, but to whet your appetite for the good things awaiting you, glance at this brief summary of contents. ICTL ENT you on the latest developments and astonishing applicatioas of inclines uiking you trough all Ue lncinating deta suehe snd do: chinus rouresl.” 41 sages ccolets 0 esters WORLD'S PICTURE GALLERY MANY OTHER LIVE ARTICLES History to the making. tok In sixteen solid pages of striking photo- devoted to modern progress in every line, 32 pages of vivid. Hving graphs from all parts of the globe. Wonderfully laterestiag! pictures aad stories ef the world tn action today; the striking, worth while things that you like to know about—dateresting—edu- THE GREAT ELECTRICAL SECTION eational—uplifting. And this immense entertainment of 128 pages tells fa simple tanguage the fascinating story of electricity. Posts 20D awAfects—200 /ustrarions awaits you ta POPULAR ELECTRICITY i WORLD’S ADVANCE for October Get It TODAY for October 15c @ copy from Your Newsdealer 1Se a copy Ut soar éraler rennot supply soe send us bis name and your own name and daress wiih ISe la cole we camps and we will mall yea 0 copy, pextpald. POPULAR ELECTRICITY PUBLISHING CO., 350 N. CLARK STREET, CHICAGO house canvass to ascertain why people don't want to buy a new patent clothes- wringer.—Chicago News. “NOT 60 BLACK AS HE IS PAINTED” comicbooks.com