Life, 1916-04-06 · page 60 of 80
Life — April 6, 1916 — page 60: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece by Stephen Leacock mocks the absurdity of middle-class housekeeping standards. The joke: Mrs. Smith thoroughly cleans before the Joneses arrive, but Mrs. Jones finds it filthy and has it cleaned again with the *same four women and vacuum cleaner*. When Mrs. Jones leaves, Mrs. Smith is horrified by the dirt and cleans once more—again with the same workers. The humor lies in the circular futility: the same workers produce opposite results depending on whose standards judge them. Leacock's moral—"Nature abhors a vacuum cleaner"—is a pun suggesting that constant, obsessive cleaning is pointless. The real satire targets wealthy homeowners' neurotic perfectionism and their assumption that hired help can magically transform spaces, when the "dirt" is often merely a matter of perspective and class prejudice about cleanliness standards.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Housekeeping for Beginners HE Joneses rented the Smiths’ house for the summer, Before the Joneses moved in, Mrs. Smith had the house cleaned. She had four women and a vacuum cleaner working for four days. Then Mrs. Jones moved in. “ My goodness!" she said, “ such dirt I never saw!" So she had the house*cleaned, She employed four women and a vacuum cleaner. They were the same women and the same vacuum cleaner. “Now,” said Mrs. Jones, “the place is fit to live in.” Three months later the Joneses’ ten- ancy was up and they moved out. “T must clean the place up,” said Mrs. Jones before she left. So she employed four women and a vacuum cleaner, and they worked four days. Then Mrs. Smith moved in, She took one look and raised her hands in horror. fy gracious!” she said, “what dirt! So she employed four women and a vacuum cleaner and they worked four Gold Seal A wine that asks your favor because of its quality. Made in America for Americans, You cannot get a better champagne at any price. Insist on Having It SPECIAL DRY end BRUT GOLD SEAL RED—the best Sparkling Burgundy on the Market Sold Everywhere OST men like efficiency in their personal belongings. That’s why so many are carrying Havone Cigarette Cases. It pleases a man to take his cig- arette from a case that can be pulled from the pocket and opened with one hand—to find his cigarettes — not tumbling about—but clean and straight, each & initsown compartment. He likes to offer his friends a smoke from so inviting a cigarette case. Havone Cigarette Cases are made in Sterling Silver-plate, in Solid Sterling, 10K Gold and 14K Gold—Prices $3.50 up. The Havone is as readily filled as any -ordinary cigarette case. If your dealer hasn’t stocked up on the HAVONE, send us $3.50 and we will mail you one direct—either plain finished, or ‘with monogram spot, or one of the all-over patterns. At any rate, send us your name on a post-card for one of our hand- some catalogues. HAVONE CORPORATION Dept. C, days till the place was fit to sit down in. And they were still the same four women, Query, by a plain man who has often been moved to and fro and had to cat in the pantry while this kind of thing went on: What do these four women do anyway? Moral. Nature abhors a vacuum cleaner. Stephen Leacock. Dangerous Tea Leaves HE wealthy people in England are asked to save the tea leaves from which they have brewed tea, so that these may be dried and used by the poor for a second infusion. One can imagine what added pleasure the Eng- lish yokel derives from his tea when he knows that Lord Ingoldsby or the Bishop of Ripon has already drunk from the same leaves. But what if a labor leader were to be inoculated by some left-over leaves that had been used by Lloyd-George? “Tne time, the place, and the girl are seldom found together,” “True. The girl is usually half aa hour late.”—Lowisville Courier-Journal. 21-23 Maiden Lane New York THE GARDEN RECORD BOOK By Harriet Pomeroy Thompson years on @ page), to memorandum ted and trans done A necessity for the careful gardener, and a unique welcome present for the garden-loving friend. Printed on good ledger paper, size 11% 2954, $2.00 net. E.P.DUTTON & CO.681 Fifth Ave. N.Y. BELL-ANS Absolutely Removes Indigestion. One package proves it. 25cat all druggists. a Free Trial Piedmont Red Cedar Chests ‘and wooleas roo cums Render ean Mien Bek, Rane ie Piedmont Red Cedar Chest Co., Dept. 1 Statesville, N.C. comicbooks.com