Life, 1914-07-02 · page 7 of 44
Life — July 2, 1914 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes women's reading habits and romantic interests through two pieces: **Left side ("Woman As She Is Read"):** A dialogue between "Gay" and "Glad" (likely stock characters representing different female types) discussing sensational novels. They mock women who read melodramatic fiction with titles like "Wolves In Wool" and "Delilah's Daring Dream," criticizing both the overwrought prose and women readers' supposed gullibility for such stories. The satire targets both pulp literature and female audiences. **Right side ("Easy"):** A humorous golf anecdote featuring characters Castleton and Bitter, with Molière's quote about "eternal friendship." This mocks male social posturing during casual sports. The overall commentary reflects early 20th-century gender stereotypes: women as easily manipulated by cheap romance novels, men as philosophically pretentious.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
restestactestactestectestectestectesteshes' attastactectactectastestectestastecteste ttestected estestectact Woman As She Is Read Gay: “Do help me to select a book, dear!” Grav: “I will; and you help me with mince!” Gay: “Delighted to! Oh, only look, dear! Here’s ‘Wolves In Wool '— it’s simply fine!” “Ah, see; here’s Simperly’s * Soul-Sifting’; “T just can't bear that mawk- ish dub!” “His thrilling lines are so up- lifting !— His style is like a scented shrub!" “Yes,—I dare say he is de- lightful,— But here’s a book that’s just a scream! They say her yarns are some- thing frightful! It's called ‘Delilah’s Daring Dream’, “Ah, I've found Vapp’s ‘A Lady Dying’! His lines are luminously lush ;” “Upon your taste, dear, I'm relying —” * (sotto voce): “How can she read such awful slush!" Carolyn Wells. “MY FAIR ONE, LET US SWEAR AN ETERNAL FRIENDSHIP” —Moliére (Castleton, playing golf with Bilter and thinking to himself as he walks silently along.) (Teeing off)—Can't remember the angle that professor told me to hold this club. Tee's too high anyway. Told me to keep my eye on the ball. Well, here goes! (Ball, nicked on side, rolls about feet.) Curses! D—!! (Second shot)—I'N aim about three inches to right of infernal thing this time. Well, I'll be eternally —— if it isn’t in a rut! I need a pick-axe to get out of . Well, here's for a medium shot. (Zip!) Never touched the d—!! —-!!! (Bilter saunters up.) Buster: By Jove, old chap, T don't sce how you do it Castteton: Do what? Bitter: Play so philosophi- cally, Under those circum- stances I'd be cursing like a madman, Castieton: Nonsense, old chap. You see, I only play for the exercise. The golf part is a mere incident. Ccomicbooks.com