Life, 1917-11-15 · page 36 of 40
Life — November 15, 1917 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a short story ("The Uninvited Guest Who Knew") alongside period advertisements. The narrative depicts a man named Maltby who, inspired by the Navy Secretary's practice of consulting experts, invites four neighbors to critique his household management. Each neighbor identifies a different failing: excessive allowances to children, the wife not shopping in person (risking merchant cheating), and Maltby's constant absence from home. The story satirizes early 20th-century management trends and self-help culture by showing how absurd it is to seek outside "expert" advice on intimate family matters. It gently mocks both Maltby's gullibility and the era's fascination with systematizing domestic life. The advertisements—for Lucky Strike cigarettes, Musterole (a mustard-based chest rub for congestion), and Evans' non-intoxicating ale—reflect period consumer products and marketing approaches, including health claims now considered dubious.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Toasted \ ‘tobacco | The only big advance in 20 years yi At cigarette many Burley is “blame good” \ tobacco / —* THE MOTHER THAT nore (S) HER The Uninvited Guest Who Knew ALTBY took advantage of his wife’s absence on a visit to carry into execution an idea that had sud- denly come to him like an inspiration He had heen reading how the Secre- tary of the Navy had called in a board of experts to help him out. “If that is a good thing for the navy,” said Maltby, “why isn’t it for me? It takes courage to do a startlingly new thing, but I've got i So he invited four of his neighbors— Smith, Jones, Robinson and Perit—to come in and see him. When they were together he said: “Boys, you ase all neighbors of mine, more or less acquainted with me. Now, each one of you is a strong man in at least one direction, and I want” the benefit of this strength. I have felt for some time that there was something wrong with the management of my household. Give me_ frankly the benefit of your advice. Don't hes- itate to speak up. Tell me the fatal truth.” “Since you insist upon it,” said Smith, “I've noticed that you give your children too much money to spend. It’s something awful. My boy, you're extravagant! No wonder you're running behind.” “My wife says she has often won- dered,” said Jones, “why Mrs. Maltby doesn’t go to market herself instead of telephoning. It may be a little thing, but you're bound to be cheated unless you take time to do things right. If you're lax in a detail like that, probably you are lax all the way through. Personal supervision of details—that's what counts.” “Your real trouble,” said Robinson, “is deeper than this. It is because you don't spend any time at home. You're always going about—night after night. That's the reason why you don't Thanksgiving Beverage A bread and butter beverage with @ tl racer, Drug it ot Deal Ask ee. rad smack all its own 3°, Mother: ‘Keep a jar of Musterole handy Goodness gracious! Everybody’s coughing and how are we going to move that old congestion ‘way inside? ‘A good old-fash- ioned mustard plaster”’ says somebody. Fine—if only it would not blister! How about Musterole? The very thing! Give us that pure white ointment. Rub it in over the place. It won't blister. And can’t you just feel how it gets down underneath the skin and penetrates? Musterole is made of oil of mustard and other home simples. Just rub it on the skin. It goes down to the seat of the congestion. There it generates heat. But it is a peculiar non- blistering heat. That heat disperses the congestion. But the most peculiar part of Musterole is that a few moments after you have applied it you feel nothing but a delighting sense of coolness. And relief is usually immediate. Congestion and coughing usu- ally go when that clean, pure, white ointmentsearches themout. Musterole comes in 30c and 60c jars —hospital size $2.50 at all druggists. The Musterole Co., Cleveland, Ohio MVFZOINA 2 som Thes her high an inspi the auth New Yo of the G loved by & patrio King h attitude