Life, 1922-10-26 · page 23 of 36
Life — October 26, 1922 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two satirical pieces mocking early 20th-century social conventions: **"Hosanna to the Husband"** depicts a newlywed bride discovering her groom flirting with a blonde at a magazine stand. In jealous response, she writes a letter to a friend accusing her husband of being in love with the friend's wife—a absurd escalation meant to ridicule the bride's dramatic, irrational behavior and the melodramatic nature of honeymoon expectations. **"Those Who Stoop"** sarcastically catalogs the various financial and publicity opportunities available to women who fall into scandal or "folly" (romantic disgrace)—movie contracts, vaudeville bookings, newspaper spreads in revealing attire, serialized diaries, and manufactured rumors. The satire mocks how scandal paradoxically becomes profitable, and how women's misfortune gets commodified and exploited by the press. The bottom cartoon humorously depicts rural domestic life, with a man widening his garage door to accommodate his wife's new Ford automobile—reflecting changing gender roles and women's increasing independence through motor vehicles.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Hosanna to the Husband HE bride, for the moment unbridled, wandered into the main lounge of the hotel. She missed the guid- ing hand of her master, and she was seeking him out. Yes, there he was at the magazine stand where she had sent him forty minutes ago, buying a magazine from a dangerous-looking blonde. For a minute the little bride stood gazing pathetically, then with quickened pulse and palpitating breath she stole into the writing-room. Dear TippeELpy (she wrote): You will be surprised to hear from me on my honeymoon, and you will probably guess that it is y something of gravest importance that would ng a letter from me now. Tiddeldy, how can I tell you? I have been married only three days, and already I have found out something which has changed my whole life, and yours. I know that this is the truth, Tiddeldy, not idle guesswork, nor woman's intuition. \ly husband is in love with your wife. Come to me at once, Tiddeldy, and let us talk this over. EVELYN. Then she called a page and dispatched this little re- minder to her errant husband, Those Who Stoop OME time ago Mr. Goldsmith asked this question: When lovely woman stoops to folly, And finds too late that men betray, What charm can soothe her melancholy? What art can wash her tears away? The answer is substantially as follows: One offer of $1,000 a week in the movies. One offer of $500 a week for forty weeks in vaudeville. One two-page spread, including six pictures of her in scanty attire, for the use of Sunday newspapers. One newspaper reproduction of her portrait, painted by Signor Paloosa, while she was said to be considering an offer of marriage from the Prince of Nutmegolia. One diary written by her press agent, but bearing her own signature, for syndicate use and book publication. Seven rumors that she is responsible for the suicide of assorted prominent men in this country and abroad. Sunday editorials wondering if, after all, she is to blame. One sermon denouncing her as a scarlet woman. One suggestion, immediately hooted down, that if she had kept still nobody would have known anything about it. “Mornin’, Hank! Whatcher doin’ up thar?” “Waal! The old woman is figgerin’ on drivin’ th’ Ford an’ I'm a-makin’ the garige door- five foot wider.” comicbooks.com