Life, 1913-10-30 · page 25 of 40
Life — October 30, 1913 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon depicts a man and woman in an old automobile, with the man saying he needs to "cut another notch in my steering-wheel" before continuing. The humor relies on a double meaning: "cutting notches" was slang for seducing women—each notch representing a conquest. The joke satirizes the casual, predatory attitudes toward women common in early 20th-century culture. The man treats romantic conquests as trophies to be tallied, interrupting even a current romantic encounter (with "Geraldine") to record another. The automobile setting emphasizes the modern era while the behavior reveals persistent, unenlightened attitudes about women. The cartoon mocks this masculine braggadocio while implicitly critiquing the objectification underlying such "conquest mentality."
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“PARDON ME ONE MOMENT, GERALDINF, WHILE 1 CUT ANOTHER NOTCH IN MY STRERING-WHEEL” of love; one pedigreed black sheep with a collection of ancient armor, a warm heart, seductive manners and ditto habits; as much of that brilliantly distilled local atmos- phere in the manufacture of which Mr. Chambers excels as the prescription clerks call quantum sufficit; and—the usual precautionary grain of Chambersian bromide in the shape of an unexpected marriage service and a blandly moralized finale. Both books have the qualities of their defects in that both begin by giving us what Jack London calls a “ jingle”. And both have the defects of their qualities in that both end by leaving a brownish taste in our minds. J. B. Kerfoot. Confidential Book Guide Anna Borden's Carcer, by Margarcte Munsterberg. The portrait of a seeker after sensation. A rather vaguely observed study of a contemporary type. Bendish, by Maurice Hewlett. A look-in at the 1840's, a racy episode in a spicy carcer; a sequel to “ Mrs. Lancelot” and a most enjoyable fictional interlude. The Business of Life, by Robert W. Chambers. See above. _ The Garden Without Walls, by Coningsby Dawson. A first noyel by a new writer who has jumped into instant favor. The book is one of the scason’s treats. Hagar Revelly, by Daniel Carson Goodman. A book about which ‘Mr. Comstock and I disigree, but which he advertises and lo not. The Immigrant; an Asset and a Liability. by Frederic J. Haskin. A well chosen and effective window display of infor- mation on a subject of gencral concern. John Barleycorn, by Jack London. The history of the author's traffic with drink. A confession that loses nothing of its native interest in the telling. The Lady and the Pirate, by Emerson Hough. A tale of mild Mississippi Valley adventure which is often flat and hfalutin. My Adventures With Your Money, by George Graham Rice. tic but interesting account of a varied carcer of financial lence" stunts. Mixed Grill, by W. Pett Ridge. A collection of short stories of London, done in varying moods and manners and making good pick-up reading. Murder in Any Degree, by Owen Johnson. Chic short stories of New York milicux—financial, Bohemian and artistic. Natural Money, by John Raymond Cummings. A theory to think about. Political economy—but with a dash of inspira- tion in it. The Psychology of Laughter, by Boris Sidis. A book that is like bobbing for apples. You reach for a bit of psychology and come up with a mouthful of bad jokes, Strange Stories from the Lodge of Leisures, trans the eighteenth century Chinese by George | Soulié sided and matter-of-fact little ghost stories which yet have a delighfully exotic flavor. The Taste of Apples, by Jeancttc Lee, An amusing ( occasionally thrilling) account of the London winter of a Ne England cobbler. The Way of Ambition, by Robert Hichens. page. Village Lifein America, by Caroline Cowles Richards. The diary of a Canandaigua’ school-girl which gives us some scattered peeks into a vanished world. Sce preceding comicbooks.com