Life, 1914-05-14 · page 7 of 44
Life — May 14, 1914 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two separate satirical pieces from Life magazine: **"The Coupon Craze"** mocks evangelical preachers' promises of salvation. A five-year-old child naively asks a minister how many souls he must save to earn a "free ticket to heaven"—treating spiritual redemption like a commercial coupon promotion. The satire targets the commodification of religion and transactional approaches to faith. **"Signs of Civilization"** criticizes Philadelphia women's use of cosmetics. It quotes the *Philadelphia Record* mocking women who use rouge and whitening powder, claiming they're making themselves ridiculous. The four vignette illustrations (L, I, F, E) appear to show various vanity behaviors. The satire targets both women's beauty practices and the moralizing criticism they faced. Both pieces reflect early 20th-century social anxieties about commercialism and changing social norms.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“The Coupon Craze Signs of Civilization HE PREACHER: Maybe there is something the little “ Our sidewalks are crowded with young women who girl would like to say to me. imagine that they make themselves fetching by the use Tue Hostess’s Five-year-oLp Daucuter: Please, Mister of rouge and whitening their noses till they look like Preacher, how many souls have you got to save before plaster of Paris."—Philadelphia Record. they'll give you a free ticket to heaven? PHILADELPHIA is evidently waking up. e- ~ % a ae . = = re = “TWELVE O'CLOCK AND ALL’s WELL” comicbooks.com