Life, 1921-03-17 · page 9 of 40
Life — March 17, 1921 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a poem and illustration about a bedridden child named Tommy recovering from measles. The poem addresses "Patricia," recalling how she defied winter weather by wearing silk stockings and exposing her legs—considered scandalously immodest in the era. The speaker, now ill with influenza, ironically suggests Patricia's pride in displaying her silken hose somehow warmed the child Tommy back to health—a "miracle." The satirical point targets early 20th-century attitudes toward women's fashion and modesty. By attributing a child's recovery to exposed female legs rather than proper medicine, the piece mocks both conservative morality and contemporary medical explanations, using humor to comment on changing social norms around women's clothing and bodily display.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Miracle By Mabel Haughton Collyer. How you defied the winter chill In pumps as fragile as a shell— Enough to make a Tartar ill! Audaciously you did disclose Two charming lengths of silken hose! Pte I remember well I, in my heavy homespun socks, My felt-lined shoes, galoshes stout— My coat as cozy as a fox— Did scarcely dare to venture out Upon those wind-swept days when you Exposed your silken hose to view! Yet influenza laid me flat. To-day I shiver in my pew As I regard your Easter hat And all the gorgeous health of you. You little rascal! Heaven knows Pride must have warmed your silken hose! i ie hi; mn Tommy (recovering from measles): WOULD YOU GIVE ME A PONY AND CART FOR SCARLET FEVER? comicbooks.com