Life, 1914-08-20 · page 12 of 40
Life — August 20, 1914 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three distinct pieces of social commentary: **"Future"** (top left): Satirizes federal bureaucracy, mocking the Federal Commission's inefficient hiring practices where officials endlessly debate simple decisions about assistant barbers. **Central illustration**: A cherub or cupid figure in a circular frame, captioned "Somewhat Battered—But Still in the Ring," appears to represent marriage or romantic love persisting despite hardship. **"The Real Joys of Married Life"** (right): Uses domestic humor to critique separate-establishment marriages, suggesting spouses miss intimate daily interactions like mending shirts together—implying modern marriage trends were creating emotional distance. **"The Lesson of Luxembourg"** (bottom): Political commentary questioning why governments should trust or make peace pacts with Germany, whose agreements are unreliable ("good until broken"). The page demonstrates Life's mix of bureaucratic satire, relationship commentary, and political critique typical of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
296 Future 'HE Federal Commission arrived here yesterday from Washing- ton and immediately began work. Guiseppe Cataloni, our leading bar- ber, was the first one called. “Have you kept other barbers from settling here, by hiring two assistants and thus creating a hir- suite monopoly?” “1 have employed two assistants.’ “Get along by yoursclf hereafter. Your assistants are hereby ordered to open establishments of their own Guiseppe Cataloni, having con- sented to this arrangement, pleading as an excuse that his two assistants were no good anyway, and he was glad to have an excuse to get rid of them, it was decided not to bring up the case before the Supreme Court. To-morrow the Commission will con- sider our leading bootblack. a [este goes the editor of a popu- lar magazine.” “Impossible! There isn’t any such thing.” Pret 6O0L0 PUZZLE MOTION PICTURE WHAT IS THE NEXT MOVE? SOMEWHAT BATTERED—BUT STILL IN THE RING The Lesson of Luxem- bourg ERMANY’S peace ‘pacts are “good until broken”. The time to break them is the time that Germany selects. Why should any government put itself to the trouble to sign a peace pact with Germany or * why should any government accept hereafter Germany’s sol- emn assurance about territorial rights? The Real Joys of Married Life One of the sweetest memories of my married life is seeing my husband mend his own shirt. —Mrs Havelock Ellis, [es lady is, if we are not mis- taken, the one who recently related that she and her husband lived an ideal life in separate estab- lishments. She says they were good neighbors. While our catholic mind enables us to understand how it is possible for one with such a cur- tailed matrimonial existence even to enjoy the sight of one’s husband mending his own shirt, think of how much more pleasure might have been hers if she had actually lived with her husband. She might have awak- ened at dawn on some frosty morn- ing to be entertained by his harmonious efforts at shaking down the furnace fire. And consider what a fine joy she has missed in not having a seat in the front row while he was dis- charging the cook! “ISN'T the city noisier than it was?” It couldn't be. The volume is the same, but there is, possibly, more variety.”