Life, 1921-03-24 · page 7 of 34
Life — March 24, 1921 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a poem by Abigail Cresson about a young woman going to market in town. The poem describes her internal conflict: she must maintain a prim, proper demeanor while carrying a heavy basket, though she's tempted to smile at the "lads" she encounters. The accompanying illustration shows two figures in what appears to be a market stall or cart, depicting the scene described. The bottom caption presents a humorous complaint about street car fares, suggesting that raising transit costs would reduce travel expenses. The satire targets the rigid social conventions constraining young women—they're expected to suppress their natural friendliness and remain formally composed in public, even while performing difficult physical labor. The humor lies in the gap between prescribed propriety and genuine human warmth.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
c follows up the hill and down — The road that takes me into town; And, oh, it's many lads I meet With smiles and glances bold or swect; Eyes that are blue maybe, or black— But I am never smiling back. Market Day I have to hold my tongue and go As prim as if I didn't know. Ah, dear, it’s hard—this being good— I don’t like doing what I should. My basket’s always heavy, too— I need a man’s strong arm, I do! “Y HOPE THEY LETS THE STREET CARS RAISE THEIR FARES, MIC! MORE OUT OF OUR TRAVELIN’ EXPENSES, I wonder why there's any harm, When all the air's so kind and warm, When smiling lads swing down the road And ask to help me with my load, In smiling back at them again- Not every time, but now and then ? Abigail Cresson, i i 1 WE COULD SAVE A LOT comicbooks.com