Life, 1917-10-11 · page 7 of 40
Life — October 11, 1917 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the decline of romantic courtship in modern American life. The main illustration shows a couple where the woman stands while the man sits reading what appears to be a newspaper or document—suggesting romantic attention has been replaced by domestic indifference. The accompanying text laments how courtship has become "encroached upon" and "trimmed down to practically nothing." It contrasts the past, when young men had to earnestly court women through patient steps, with the present where casual movie dates replace passionate pursuit. The satire suggests modernity has killed romance: once couples marry, they no longer see each other, making courtship itself pointless. The caption's joke about wartime "kultur" implies women's liberation has further accelerated courtship's demise.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Passing of Courtship HIS is an age of quick decisions. Indeed, none of us, even when it comes to the most trivial things (in which we might indulge in the pleas- ures of indecision), can afford to dally with time. We must decide instantly and pass on, or we are lost. Thus it happens that courtship, that most beautiful period in the lives of two human beings, has become sadly encroached upon; until, indeed, it is doubtful that there is any of it left. We meet, we love, we telephone for the necessary official, we marry, To linger on old sofas, to swing on rustic gates, to walk in shady lanes, is no longer the lot of man. The lovers’ quarrel is too great a luxury. It has been trimmed down to practically nothing. The good- bye kiss, that former lingering joy, is now a hasty, an abrupt affair of con- centrated seconds. Hand-holding is a memory. Time was when every young man served his apprenticeship at learning to love. His sighs, his awkwardness, y: his intense bashfulness, all had to be ny gradually overcome by a series of self- taught steps. Now a few evenings at the “movies” and the veriest tyro be- comes a past-master. He meets the girl, grabs her in approved fashion and along the lines of the highest efficiency, kisses her passionately, and the whole affair is settled. Even in these circumstances, how- ever, courtship might be possible after marriage; for there has been no time to get acquainted with one’s wife. The great difficulty, however, is that, even ‘ after marriage, no one sces one’s wife " any more. How can anyone court a : ve om i + oteiess . woman who is always out of sight? “YES. AND I'VE MADE SOME CORKING PLANS OF THE HOUS or ToL. M. ROW IT EASILY THE NEXT TIME WE CoM e Don’t Worry Verboten yf MATRIMONIAL opportunities for German royalties OSSIBLY it was the English blood in the Kaiser that after the war promise to be very much restricted. gave him his unfortunate aspiration for sea-powei le Ad But it is not worth while to worry about that until we lf the German-British mixture is to combine British ‘S see whether there will be any German royalties after the aspirations with German moral limitations there ought to war. be a provision against it in the peace terms. nd xum | comicbooks.com