Life, 1921-02-03 · page 22 of 46
Life — February 3, 1921 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Life magazine page satirizes early 20th-century Valentine's Day customs with humorous illustrations of romantic disappointments. The top sketch mocks a "ribbon party" game where couples are matched by following ribbons—one young man (Bob) discovers his ribbon leads to an unwanted "cousin from Joplin, Mo." instead of his preferred partner. Other vignettes depict a popular woman overwhelmed by thirty-six valentines (mostly sent by a rival named Ned trying to court her indirectly), a young lady discovering her gift is cheap Woolworth's merchandise instead of luxury items like a Rolls-Royce or amber necklace, and a woman frantically chasing her dog on Valentine's morning. The humor derives from the gap between romantic expectations and reality—the contrast between "old customs" of courtship and modern disappointments. The page suggests Valentine's Day romance rarely matches hopes, whether through unwanted matches, indirect courtship tactics, or disappointing gifts.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-LIFE St. Valentine’s Day in The Morning Old Customs Are the Best—With a Few Modern Improvements “At the end of the rainbow there's happiness.” At the ends of the rib- bons held in the fatal clutches of the young gentlemen are their prospective dinner partners. ¢ started blindly with the others in an adjacent room, Bob has followed his ribbon only to discover that it is the shortest distance between himself and the “cousin from Joplin, Mo.” There are some awfully quaint features in these valentine par- ties, aren't there? Portrait of young lady and dog (after Catt). Horrible awakening on St. Valentine's morning of a very popular bud whose friends are sufficiently desperate to carry on the pursuit of her affections by proxy. There’s “ . nothing like starting off the day with a rush. And this little | band i painted one to. make an Question: Will the dog catch the cat before minted one fe makes tion: | Wil the dog eat even three dozen.” Ned, who Cathye catches came te jest, remains to pay. s thirty-six valentines all - from Nadine are too much for aw even Ned’s ego, he has a faint ike aN suspicion that he is aiding i SP | materially in providing billets | iAP dour for his deadliest rivals li UY ) That, thinks Ned, is decidedly a v the lowest form of indoor ——— sport. Oh, well, the original ————“ St. Valentine was a martyr, — you know. Annoying realizations of a young lady whose valentine expectations have run the gamut from a Rolls-Royce to an amber necklace. And just look what the suffering post- man dragged in! Of course it’s the sentiment of a gift that counts most—if you hap- pen to be a good mathemati cian. When. we've got. our mouths all set for caramels. Fate is forever handing. ws Woolworth’s. comicbooks.com