Life, 1916-11-30 · page 5 of 42
Life — November 30, 1916 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top cartoon spells "LIFE" using illustrated figures representing maids departing their employers. The poem "The Reactionary" by Berton Bradley accompanies this, presenting an employer's lament: maids constantly leave despite being treated decently with good rooms and pay. The employer cannot understand their departures. The bottom illustration depicts a social gathering where an "Anxious Mother" and "The Girl" discuss a boy named Harold. The mother wants him taught tennis; the girl responds that he needs to strengthen his wrist first through months in a baby carriage before she'll "take him in hand." Together, these pieces satirize rigid, old-fashioned attitudes—the employer's confusion about workers' desires for freedom, and the mother's controlling approach to child-rearing—mocking those resistant to modern social changes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
'HE maids they come, the maids they go; It seems I'm always hiring them; But they are always quitting, though I'd never think of firing them. Iam not stern in voice or looks, I have a gentle way with me, But I cannot persuade my cooks To stay with me. The Reactionary I give my maids a decent room, With decent pay I guerdon them; I do not nag and fret and fume; I never overburden them; I simply try to treat them right, And yet they keep on grieving me, And constantly, both black and white, Are leaving me. They seem to have a vagrant air; The wanderlust is teasing them They come—they go—I tear my hair; There isn’t any pleasing them. T know it’s wicked, but T raise My voice with sorrow quavery, And ery to bring again the days Of slavery. Berton Braley. Anxious Mother: 1 D0 SO WISH YOU COULD TEACH MY HAROLD TO PLAY TENNIS, HE 1S SO DELICATE, The Girl: HE NEEDS TO STRENGTHEN HIS WRIST FIRST. LET HIM SIT IN A BABY CARRIAGE AND FLOURISH A RATTLE FOR A FEW MONTHS AND THEN I'LL TAKE HIM IN HAND. comicbooks.com