Life, 1914-12-03 · page 62 of 92
Life — December 3, 1914 — page 62: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a serialized story and two separate satirical pieces from Life magazine. **Main Story ("Letters to Santa Claus"):** A domestic drama where a wealthy businesswoman (Mrs. Selwind) discovers her employee husband has fallen in love with her—a shocking breach of propriety. She fires him, horrified that he's behaving "abnormally" by showing genuine romantic feeling. The satire targets upper-class emotional coldness and the expectation that marriages, particularly among the wealthy, should be transactional rather than affectionate. **"Progress" Section:** A brief social satire mocking how language evolves among the educated classes to obscure meaning. Instead of saying "pay debts," the literate now say "liquidate liabilities"—making simple concepts sound more important through vocabulary inflation. **"No Clue":** A humorous vignette where a girl receives a mysterious Christmas gift and refuses to identify it, keeping adults in suspense. The overall theme critiques 1920s upper-class pretension and emotional repression.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
| TENET TG ESAS i MATL SG: herself ; only her long business train- ing, her experience in presiding over large assemblies, enabled her to hold herself in. “Go!” she whispered quietly. “Go at once! I always had an instinctive feeling that there was something wrong with you—that you weren't quite normal; and she is apparently in the same class. Take two weeks’ allowance out of the drawer and re- move your belongings. So far as I am concerned, I never want to see your face again!” Mr. Selwind, gulping down a wave of joy, not unmixed with a certain tenderness over the thought of their hitherto pleasant relationship, passed out into the darkness. Mrs. Selwind touched an indicator and summoned her secretary. “Margaret,” she said, “that stupid man has actually fallen in love with his prospective wife, Mrs, Shotwell, LETTERS TO SANTA CLAUS WHICH ONES WILL HE ANSWER? and he tells me she has done the same with him—and in these days! . . Did you ever notice anything queer about him while he was with us?” The secretary rearranged one of the rats in her hair thoughtfully, as she leaned gracefully against the back of the office-chair. “Why, yes,” she said slowly. “He used to kiss me occasionally, but he was always so faithful in the per- formance of his duties that I never thought it was worth while ,to bring the matter to your attention.” Progress \WHEN we were younger and more uncouth we used to settle up or square accounts or pay our debts. A little later, as we took on more polish, we discharged our obligations. Now we have gone so high in the world and become so literate and al- literate that we liquidate our liabilities. a No Clue AUD: What was in package you opened? Beatrix: - My Christmas from Aunt Janie. Maup: What is it? Beatrix (glancing at She has neglected to say. that last present gift-bag): 5 at SUT A WOMAN'S CLUB comicbooks.com