Life, 1916-04-13 · page 44 of 46
Life — April 13, 1916 — page 44: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a dialogue between "O Sage" and an unnamed questioner about how friendship has changed with modern society. The Sage argues that in primitive communities, friendships were intensely sentimental because everyone was similar and people had few social options. In contemporary times, however, friendship has become "a syndicate"—a transactional arrangement rather than deep intimacy. Modern specialization means friends have narrow expertise or interests: some golf, some dance, some discuss drama or sociology. Rather than maintaining one intimate confidant, people now cultivate multiple specialized friendships serving specific purposes—business contacts, spouse's friends, hobby companions. The Sage acknowledges seeming cynical but frames this as descriptive rather than judgmental. The satire gently mocks modern life's fragmentation and the loss of well-rounded social connection, while accepting its inevitability. The surrounding advertisements for shirts, ale, and dessert liqueur are unrelated commercial content typical of period magazines.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
EIPESE Evolving Friendship “TELL me, © Sage, what are your views on friendship? Do they change as the years pass? It seems to me that you have more friends than formerly, while none of them is so intimate.” “Exactly so, Friendship is more of a syndicate than it was in the older and simpler days.” “A syndicate, O Sage?” “Yes. In primitive and uncompli- cated communities everybody knows everybody else, because there are not many to know. And everybody knows everything about everybody else, be- cause there is not much to know about them and because they are all nearly alike. Their interests are the same. Their accomplishments are much the same. Their habits of mind show little iation, Their ideals, if they have y, are distressingly uniform, Under such circumstances friendship is highly sentimental. One chooses a friend on account of some little varia- tion of temperament and then proceeds to get used to having that particular person as a friend. And when that contempt arrives which familiarity breeds, one is loath to change friends, because he knows that the new one will be equally as contemptible on close Are Guaranteed Fit, Color, Wear be sure of fast-color (Pronounced E-vet) “For Smart Desserts” Make a Violet dessert for dims | | { ' ' | | ] j | | shirts this Spring, buy | shirts with the Gn label. We use only tested fast-color acquaintance.” “You are in a cynical mood, O Sage.” “Not at all. I have been telling you what was. But it has been chang- this evening, or for tomorow’ luncheon or tea. Créme Yvette gis a delicate violet colour and taste charlottes, sorbets, ices, jelies etc. Makes desserts asattra- ing rapidly. Now it is not only ad- visable, but almost necessary to have many friends with practically no in- timates on the old sentimental basis. This is because friends specialize just as everybody else in this marvelous age of specialization, My friends who play golf do not dance. My friends who dance do not play bridge. My friends who play bridge are gradually losing The Nek-ban-tb isa new convenience found only on | -‘eiF_ Powers of conversation. | My Emery shirts. The TAB - ls who can converse have their lifts the band, opens the col- : specialties, so that I must go to this lar-button pocket and lets one to talk about the drama, that one the button slide right in, to talk about literature, and the other one to talk about sotiology and the topics of the day. Then there are my business friends and my wife’s friends and some others not readily classified, tive in appearance as in tas. Sold at 80c and $1.50 per bottle at fancy groces and wine dealers. Book of signed recipes b well-known Chefs sent fre Write today SHEFFIELD COMPANY, 7th Ave. at 14th St, New Ye fabrics and we stand by our colors | by giving with each shirt a GUARANTY BOND Mf your Emery shirt fades, or fails in any way, | the Emery dealer will replace it with a new shirt. Look for GY when you buy shits. Pay$1.50 up. | | all of whom consume a part of one’s I = of Are the Horses You Own time and interest. Perhaps it is in- or drive shod with Capewell nails? For correct to speak of my friends as a ve aret eeet ae ir pre. . stand.” OF BRAINS 56 IGARS “That is not so easy to explain. how is it that you are interested in Possibly because I am sort of a spe- cialist in anti-specialism with a pre- are “MADE AT KEY WEST | W. M. Steppacher & Bro., Inc., Philadelphia which Holds best, ts safest and saves you needless all these various things when the dilection for versatility.” YOURS FOR THE ORDE! get the na shoeing bills. Kemember it’s Zhe Capewel! you want. others are not?” HOME, RESTAURANT ©!