Life, 1913-12-04 · page 108 of 112
Life — December 4, 1913 — page 108: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising**, with one notable satirical poem. The dominant feature is a sentimental poem titled "Dobbin" addressing a horse facing obsolescence. The poem defends horses against repeated predictions of their demise—first from bicycles, then automobiles, and various mechanical innovations. The satire lies in its earnest, emotional defense: while men invent "painted things of cogs and wheels," horses possess irreplaceable qualities—loyalty, emotion, the meaningful "little neigh" that connects to the horseman's heart. The joke is that despite constant technological disruption, horses will endure because humans need authentic connection, not just mechanical efficiency. The remainder consists of period perfume and flower drop advertisements from Rieger and Dralle brands, typical of early 20th-century luxury goods marketing, plus a brief anecdote about military brevity. **Social context**: This reflects anxieties about rapid mechanization and industrial displacement circa 1900s-1910s.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Riegers Premier Perfumes Send 20c For Minature Bottle Only 20 cents (stamps or coin) brings you the fragrance of a thousand blossoms. A minature bottle of the rarest perfame made, Bo delicate and exquisite wit ia impossible even to imagine the delightfutness. ef this parfeme untit you get ata amazing odor. "Tho. freshness of BSccovered Disssoma, Unquestionably tho most perfect per fame ever produced. "Made without alcohol, The actonl fra ice of {ue fowers themselves. Made in ‘eight. odors: Giolor, Rose, Lily of the Valley, Crabapple, Lilse, Carnation Pink, Heliotrope and Wistaria, 2. > Flower Drops For Sale by Your Dealer 39 Drops in Hexagona! Cut Glass Bottle.... in Folaned Maple Case in Sitk Lined Si x) 00 0 cy] 0 oO cy) Wo also manufacture Rieger's Flower Dropa Extract, Spe- al Chestmas offer pnw being made,” Handsome cut glass ile Lined, Silk Tapestry Covered Cases, 1 08. $5.00; = Today Enlasing 20 for the miniature bottle. Write Today fitray tiiuswhetneryou wisn eaars: pie of the concentrate or the extract. Remember thesampleor if you wish a larger bottle enclose PAULRIEGER, 253 FirstSt., San Francisco, Cal. Dobbin They doom you, Dobbin, now and then; they say your usefulness is gone; some blame fool thing designed by men has put the equine race in pawn. They doomed you and your hopes were low, when bicycles were all the rage; they said: “The horse will have to go—he lags superfluous on the stage.” They doomed you when the auto-car was given its resplendent birth— “ Thus sinks the poor old horse’s star—he'll have to beat it from the earth!" And now they're dooming you some more, there are so many motor things; men scorch the earth with sullen roar, or float around on hard- ware wings, They doom you, Dobbin, now and then, and call you “ has-been ", and the like ; but while this world is breed- ing men, the horse will still be on the pike. No painted things of cogs and wheels and entrails made of noisy brass can e’er supplant a horse's heels, or make man grudge a horse his grass. No man-made trap of bars and springs can love or con- fidence impart, nor give the little neigh that brings emotion to the horseman’s heart. O, build your cars and ships and planes, and doom old Dobbin as you will! While men have souls and hearts and brains, old Dobbin shall be with us still. —Our Animals. Tue palm for brevity In speech should be awarded to a marine who testified about the explosion of a gun on a war- vessel—an explosion which had sent him to the hospital for some months, “Please give your version of the ex- plosion,” he was asked “Well,” he said, “I was standing be- side the gun; there was an awful racket, and the doctor said, ‘Sit up and take this. "—Everybody’s. Dralle’s Illusion Hi much thought will you put into your gift to her. You can make Dralle’s Illusion one of the most thoughtful of gifts. Think of her dainty, charming personality— Then choose one of the Dralle odors—subtly suggesting the fragrance of thousands of fresh- picked blooms—There is a Dralle odor that will suit her exactly. The woman who uses Dralle’s finds her- self in company with the exclusive in Europe as well asin America. Dralle’s Is accepted as one of the secrets of the soclety woman's charm. Although It ls the most costly perfume in America—a single drop goes further and keeps Its fragrance longer than many that are apparently less expensive. Dralle’s comes in a beautiful cut-giass bottle with elongated drip stopper, in polished wooden case. Elght odors may be had—Lilac, Rose, Violet, Lily-of-the- Valley, Narcissus, Mellotrope, Wistaria and Astra. At drug and department stores and all dealers in high-class toilet articles. Price $1.50 for all odors except Violet and Astra, which are $1.75. GEO. BORGFELDT & CO. 16th Street at Irving Place New York San Francisco Chicago Toronto Have You Read The Confessions of a Debutante ? The Boston Herald Says: “EVERYBODY who has read ‘Confessions of a Debutante’ is enthusiastic over it and full of the liveliest curiosity as to how near home is the authorship, “IT IS so breezy, so natural, and altogether clever, permeated as it is with the 1913-14 young society girl atmosphere, that it is impossible to put it down until it is finished.” Thirty Drawings are supplied by R. M. CROSBY, one of LIFE’S artists At all bookstores: $1.00 net. By mail, $112 Our Itlustrated Holiday Bulletin Free Upon Request HOUGHTON MIFFLIN CO. 16 East 40th St., New York 4 Park St., Boston