Life, 1915-10-21 · page 44 of 52
Life — October 21, 1915 — page 44: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily an **advertising page** mixed with literary content. The main advertisement is for **Carstairs Rye Whiskey** (made by Stewart Distilling Co., Philadelphia), claiming 127 years of consistent quality—a common Prohibition-era marketing appeal emphasizing heritage and purity. The page's text content includes: 1. **"The Tabloid Story"** — a critique of *New York Life*'s short-story contest, discussing whether brevity produces good literature. The author doubts it, noting writers avoid challenging subjects (sex, psychological themes). 2. **"Not Up to Her Standard"** — a brief humorous anecdote about a maid's poor references, from *Ladies' Home Journal*. 3. **Hartshorn Shade Rollers advertisement** — selling window shade mechanisms. 4. **An untitled social satire** — a wealthy woman on her deathbed, satisfied that newspapers only have one old photograph of her, implying vanity about her appearance. The page reflects early 20th-century magazine content: literary discussion, household product ads, and gentle social humor about class and vanity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Tabloid Story New York Lire is conducting an unique short-story contest for a goodly prize, to determine how short a short story can be and be good. A limit is set at 1,500 words. Every short story accepted for publication in Lire is paid for at the rate of ten cents per word for every word under fifteen hundred words which the author does not write. have been reading the stories as printed. No De Maupassant, no O. Henry, no Poe has revealed’ himself as yet. The tendency is to the anec- dotic. Perhaps the limitation as to length enforces this. I have discovered no brilliant manifestation of imagina- tion. The writers shy away from sex. They do not, at least none has yet, ven- tured into the region of psychical ex- perience. No one has done anything in the Arthur Machen or Algernon Black- wood genre. No one handles the “eternal triangle” as do any of forty French writers one might name. This is not to say that there are no good stories among those published. Two or three in a space of about two hun- dred words are wonders of swill move: ‘ ment in tense condensation. the C R H B examples are interesting and many are arstairs Nye Kas been deft in the management of climacteric C 1 G ° surprise at the very end. The end of onstant y rowin g the contest should show us something of value as to the possibilities of such Better For 127 Years thumb-nail literary art. Are we not coming to the short story as short as a modern prayer, shorter than a modern sermon? No one wants to read a long It was the “drink of drinks” when some of De M "sa p remains the same to-day. quite lengthy. s 5 » steadily. diminishing. to. the tabloid When you drink Carstairs Rye, form. We may find the old “three- you enjoy the oldest, the purest, decker that carried tired people to the the finest whiskey in America. Islands of the Blest” brought down ” . to a gasoline-driven canoe. Writing Carstairs Rye is skillfully blended people everywhere will learn something and aged in wood. In the non- of their art from following Lire’s refillable bottle— short-story contest. . Sa Reedy'’s Mirror, St. Louis. “a good bottle to keep good CARST IRS whiskey good.”’ A Not Up to Her Standard WHISKEY STEWART DISTILLING CO. “Have you any references?” inquired PHILADELPHIA, PA. the lady of the house. “Yis, mum, lots of thim,” answered the prospective maid. “Then why did you not bring some of them with you?” ABEND oF wHisKIES “Well, mum, to tell the troot, they're STEWART DISTILLING 2 just loike me photygraphs. None of thim tomneveree don’t do me justice.” pm canst —Ladies’ Home Journal. PHILADELPHIA Pull! Pull! The shade won't go up— "THE prominent social teader lay on ° : n her last bed, Her physicians had if the roller is not right been unable to find that she was suf- JOW cften as this happened ia your tacks are neceuary, They cost but a few fering from any organic complaint—it BY ‘ 7 7 a y Org: pla H {had how oles tooshaveyou pennia more than the wore rellers you can seemed to be just the natural ebbing had shades which coulda’ 7, FREE. Sead for val ag down?” Faery Shade Ralon 2G the Be Ser Yeu en away of life, to be expected with one ‘used in over 10,000,000 homes No — look for this scrigh. of her age. Briere “I know I am going,” she whispered to those about her. “But T die con- tented. The newspapers have no other photograph of me than the one I sat for thirty years ago, and of course thaw meine fe vetete meee ah comichooks fefeyu)