Life, 1921-09-29 · page 10 of 34
Life — September 29, 1921 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The image shows a photograph titled "Aspiration" depicting two figures: a woman at a window looking outward, and a man in shadow below. The composition suggests longing or yearning. The page also contains "The American Language (Samples)" — definitions of colloquial terms like "Drama," "Congress," "Flapper," and "Oil" — and a poem titled "The Landlord Doth Make Cowards of Us All" by Constance Murray Greene. The poem satirizes landlords and tenant hardships: complaints about moving, maintenance issues, cold rooms, and poor living conditions. The satire critiques both landlord indifference and tenants' resignation to accepting poor housing rather than confronting exploitation. Without a date visible, the precise historical context remains unclear.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Aspiration LIFE SeP The American Language (Samples) RAMA. See bedroom. Literature. An article of com- merce imported from England, France and Russia, and consumed quite largely in libraries and women’s clubs. Many attempts have been made to raise it in America, and some home-grown varie- ties have met with great popularity. It does not appear, however, to be in- ( digenous to the soil. Congress. A large machine for pro- ducing sound. It is assembled, as a rule, twice a year, at vast expense, and worked almost wholly by wires in the hands of experts. The volume of sound is finely regulated, and increases in pro- portion to the necessity of producing practical results. A wind instrument. Any large vacuum. Hot air. Flapper. An osseous — framework composed of calcareous cartilaginous and fibrous material, bob-thatched and Bat streaked with red, upon which is hung a short skirt. Frequently attached to touring cars; also used as part oi the equipment of dance halls and young millionaires. Durable under certain conditions, but when exposed to heat of kitchens rapidly disintegrates. Gesture. A term employed by hack- intelligentsia to describe the acrobatic movements of nations. Oil. A ‘tenuous substance used by battleships, brokers and bunco men; also as a hair restorer and in motor cars. Like truth, it sometimes lies at the bottom of a well, and sometimes does nothing else but lie. Mingled with sea water, it is still used in Chicago: even in this diluted condition, however, it is rarely seen in Wall Street, the pa- per variety being preferred. Gold. (Iron men, Coin, Ducats, Cases, Wad, Filthy lucre.) See U.S Treasury. v The Landlord Doth Make Cowards of Us All "TS move, or not to move, that is the question. Whether ’tis nobler for a time to suffer The slings and arrows of the present landlord; Or to wear off our feet finding new quarters, In hands perhaps more vicious. To hunt—to move— No more; and by a move to think we end The heartache and the thousand nasty shocks Tenants are heir to—’tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish’d. To hunt—to pack— To move; perchance, regret. Ah! there’s the rub That makes us think ’twere wiser to stay here, Though prison walls are sweeter to the lifer Than are these mantels to our quiv’ring senses. O, burden! When we'd shuffled six rooms off And taken on a foursome—here’s the thought Which makes the act of moving seem so base— That after we had pruned to fit four rooms, We might not even have hot water there; For who would bear the agent’s whips and scorns, The owner’s thrusts, the janitor’s decay; Who’d grunt and sweat under the present ills But that the fear of something even worse, Unfurnished rooms to let, keeps us enslaved. And makes us rather bear the flats we have Than fly to others that we know not of. Constance Murray Greene. comicbooks.com