Life, 1922-10-19 · page 14 of 36
Life — October 19, 1922 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a short story titled "The Home-coming" rather than a political cartoon. The illustration shows a social scene aboard what appears to be a ship or boat, with multiple figures in early 20th-century dress gathered on deck. The story concerns Jean's anxieties about his Aunt Sarah's judgment of his home furnishings and antique acquisitions. The narrative reveals class-conscious domestic concerns typical of the era: anxiety over possessions as social markers, the importance of family approval, and interior design as a status indicator. The dialogue and story focus on personal relationships and domestic matters rather than political satire. This appears to be humorous fiction about family dynamics and social pretension among the middle or upper-middle classes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
y y y H} y yj y Y Yi y Y i} “You know—there’s something about your daughter—I don’t know just what——” ATURALLY, I was a bit anxi- ous when Jean’s Aunt Sarah came to visit us the first time. I wanted her approval of my judgment in house furnishing, because— Well, you see, when we were about to be married, Jean’s Aunt Sarah offered us some furniture she had stored. I declined. was diplomatic about it. less, I declined. “I have my eye on some really valuable pieces,” I said suavely in response to the offer, “and if the dealer will only come around to my terms, I shall have them. “Antiques, you know, dinarily good.” Jean’s Aunt Sarah offered little objection. “Very well, then,” was her com- I pride myself that I Neverthe- extraor- “Yes. I see him.” The Home-coming ment. “I suppose I can dispose of what I have some other way.” Dispose of what she had some other way, you see. Absolute confir- mation of my worst suspicions about the furniture. Of course, I had no antiques in view at the time, but I managed to buy some shortly afterward. It was a necessary purchase, but one with which I was very well satisfied. Inci- dentally, it may explain the trepida- tion with which I awaited Jean’s Aunt Sarah’s verdict after her first visit of inspection. Strange to say, she approved. The Heppelwhite sideboard brought an exclamation of joy from her. The Louis Seize escritoire was hailed with a near-shriek. The Cape Cod clock was greeted with murmurs of astonishment. “Are these the antiques you hail in mind—the valuable pieces?” inquired Jean’s Aunt Sarah, her inspection at length completed. “From Jacques’?” — she further. “They are,” I answered. like them?” “Assuredly! I always did like them, ever since the day they came from Grand Rapids,” said Jean's Aunt Sarah, her voice a bit choked. “Only I must say when I sold them to Jacques’ I never suspected that they had the homing instinct of chickens.” Jean’s Aunt Sarah has a sense of humor, however. She calls our place “The Roost,” so there is still hope that we may not be completely cut off in her will, asked “Do you Thi Istl I'd If] In tl Clos Vag Here comicbooks.com