Life, 1918-01-10 · page 37 of 40
Life — January 10, 1918 — page 37: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two satirical short stories mocking domestic and professional inefficiency in early 20th-century America. **"The Ultimate Indignity"** depicts a husband, John Perriwinkle, anxiously returning home after a three-day unauthorized absence, dreading his wife's anger. The joke's twist: his wife Mary is so absorbed in her mail and reading that she doesn't even notice he was gone, assuming he simply took an early morning walk. The satire targets how wives of this era wielded domestic authority—the husband's fear proves baseless because his wife is preoccupied with her own interests, inverting his expectation of marital discipline. **"Efficiency Rampant"** briefly mocks bureaucratic incompetence: a man prepares an address for his club but arrives a day late, yet it makes no difference because he forgot to bring the speech anyway. The joke critiques how efficiency-obsessed organizations still fail through basic human error. The cartoon at top shows two men discussing "wire entanglements," likely referencing WWI trench warfare, though context is limited. The right side is an advertisement for The Hollenden hotel in Cleveland.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“THAT'S NOTHING, OLD TOP, I'M USEN TO WIRF ENTANGLEMENTS ” The Ultimate Indignity AUTIOUSLY, timidly, John Perriwinkle wounted the belting front stoop of his house and inserted the night-key € the 2 in the latch. He had been absent three days without leave e quite a —what would his wife say when she saw him? He stood ; popaled in dread of her anger; so did all the workers ng it aw “Cause "—but, then, they were not married to her. $ and the | he opened the door, then with infinite care closed it behind him. On tip-toe John proceeded to mount the stairs to the second story, then turned toward the front of the house. mn At this time of the day Mary would be having her break- wing's | fast and glancing through her mail. 7 Taking a deep breath, he drew the portiéres apart and eril stepped into the morning-room. As he had foreseen, his wife was sipping her coffee, while on the table before her a geggers lay a pile of letters and newspapers and pamphlets. At fact his entrance she glanced up from the letter which she was | reading. There was a far-away look in her eyes, but as a f they rested on him her thoughts came back to the present. = Nervously John swallowed. “My dear, I-I—” he stammered, growing pitifully red Then his voice deserted him. There was a moment of painiul silence. “So you've been for a walk before breakfast?” re- marked Mary at length. “That's a good idea. But now ring for your coffee and toast, and get through quickly 1 want you to copy my lecture on ‘ Marital Felicity,” and she dropped her eyes to the interrupted letter. frXa | With a sigh that was only partly relief, John turned to push the electric bell. She had not even noticed his absence. W. W. Whitelock Efficiency Rampant ID that efficiency sharp address your club the other night?” He prepared the address, but he came aroun] one day late. Made a mistake in the date.” “Was anybody ther: “No. But that made no difference, He forgot to bring his address with him.” GD FRIENDS G@D CIGARS C@D STORIES usw OF COURSE KING OF TABLE WATERS Pleases Everybody There’s something about The Hollen- den that everybody likes. It may be the unusually good food and uniformly excellent service; conven- ience of location; the club like com- forts of the famous Red Room Lounge and other parlors. Or, it may be the traditions which have arisen about this hotel during its years of service to the traveling public. Whatever it is—there’s something that attracts Hollenden guests; something that brings the majority of them back to The Hollenden time after time—and each time they generally. find some- thing new to like which they hadn’t noticed before. comicbooks.com