Life, 1916-05-11 · page 14 of 48
Life — May 11, 1916 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Life magazine page contains three satirical pieces about early 1900s social life: **"Spring Models"** shows fashion evolution through 1904 and 1918—women's clothing became more practical and less ornate over time, satirizing fashion trends. **"In Brightest Georgia"** mocks Georgia's peanut ban in theaters, sarcastically suggesting wealthy Southerners will soon worry about "unbelled cats" being killed by the state—absurd extrapolation of government regulation into daily life. **"In Uniform"** by Berton Braley is a poem satirizing how uniforms make everyone look identical, using examples from wealthy to poor classes. The point: status and rank become invisible when everyone wears the same outfit. **Kindermörder illustration** depicts a historical scene ("whom the king delighteth to honor"), showing pageantry and military ceremony—likely contrasting with the uniform poem's theme about appearance versus reality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
In Brightest Georgia TLANTA has adopted an ordinance forbidding the sale of peanuts in theatres. Whenever Georgia isn’t busy with lynchings, it can be depended on to take some action beneficial to the general welfare. Now that peanuts in theatres have been sternly dealt with, we shall expect the Georgians to take a firm stand about chewing gum on street cars. And some day, when the chivalrous south- erners are enjoying the peaceful prosperity which they have acquired by taking money from the children who toil in their mills, who knows but that they may settle once and for all the vital issue of whether unbelled cats should or should not be killed by the state. Patience ARBER: More soap? Patron: Give me a chance to digest this. In Uniform N places of splendor or show Or those of a lowlier grade, Wherever you happen to go, In temples of pleasure or trade, The women are found on parade In fashions that dazzle and strike, But, somehow, it can’t be gainsaid, They all look exactly alike! They pass you in row upon row, In nattiest plumage displayed ; The rich and the poor and the low, The old and the young and the staid, Not one from the pattern has strayed, And seen from afar down the pike, This truth you can hardly evade— They all look exactly alike! The dowager, fifty or so, The spinster, beginning to fade, The débutante, young and aglow, Are all in one fashion arrayed. Their hats are a similar shade; Their skirts have a similar hike; Their shoes are the same kind of suéde— They all look exactly alike! You can’t tell the queen from the jade. It's facts I am giving. Sure, Mike! You can’t tell your wife from your mid, They all look exactly alike! KINDERMORDER Berton Braley, “WHOM THE KING DELIGHTETH TO HONOR” comicbooks.com