Life, 1915-06-17 · page 7 of 52
Life — June 17, 1915 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the competing demands on time when both spouses work as professionals. The illustration shows a domestic studio scene with three figures: a woman at a desk (appearing to work on correspondence or administrative tasks), a man at an easel painting, and a baby on the floor playing with papers and books. The caption addresses the central tension: "When the husband and wife are both professionals there comes the question as to whose time is the more precious." The satire suggests that professional pursuits—here represented by artistic and clerical work—conflict with childcare responsibilities. The neglected baby literally underfoot humorously emphasizes how domestic life becomes secondary when both parents prioritize careers. This reflects early 20th-century anxieties about women's professional ambitions and their impact on traditional family roles.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WHEN THE HUSBAND AND WIFE ARE BOTH PROFESSIONALS THERE COMES THE QUESTION AS TO WHOSE TIME IS THE MORE PRECIOUS Two Singers 'HE bird that mounts the morning sky Your eyes are like the burnished stars Above the sight of earth-bound men In that wide Heaven whereto I pray; Sces stars alight beside the sun And, like the burnished stars of Heaven, That have no place within our ken; Are very, very far away! His song, which has a joy beyond I may not rise, howe’er I sing, The hope of winning any sphere . On pinions broken since my birth— Save that he left, is lost to them; Dear, is there nothing that will bring Only the bird himself can hear, . . . Your Heaven nearer to my earth? Reginald Wright Kauffman, comicbooks.com