ComicBooks.com Register / Loginit's free!

Life, 1922-12-07 · page 66 of 80

Life — December 7, 1922 — page 66: what you’re looking at

📖 Open the full issue in the page-flip reader →
Life — December 7, 1922 — page 66: Life, 1922-12-07

What you’re looking at

This is a humorous essay-poem (signed "T.R.") about a man eavesdropping on women's tea conversation, expecting gossip but finding something unexpected. **The Setup:** The narrator admits to listening from behind his study lattice while his wife entertains friends on the veranda—underhanded but amusing. **The Satire:** The piece gently mocks contemporary gender stereotypes. The man expects women to discuss "dress or cookery" and scandal, but instead they debate substantive topics: jazz, current events, the foreign situation, the domestic tariff, labor strikes, and sports figures like golfer Walter Hagen and tennis player Suzanne Lenglen. **The Point:** The title "Not Proven" suggests the author's hypothesis about women's shallow interests remains unproven. The joke subverts expectations—women emerge as intellectually engaged, discussing politics and current affairs seriously. The "blunder" at the end hints the narrator learned something humbling about women's minds. This reflects 1920s-era commentary on evolving women's roles post-suffrage, gently challenging male assumptions about female conversation.

📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

= Medierranean (Limited to 450 guests—about half capacity) By Magnificent New CUNARD S. S. “SCYTHIA” Specially Chartered Twin-Screw Turbine Oil-Burner, 20,000 Tons Sailing Jan. 30, 1923, returning April 2, visiting EGYPT Madeira, Portugal, Spain, Gibraltar, Algiers, Tunis, Holy Land, Constantinople, Greece, Italy, Sicily, Riviera, Monte Carlo, etc. The “Scythia” is a veritable floating palace, with spa- cious decks, lounges, veranda cafes, 2 elevators, com- modious state-rooms with running water and large ward- robes; bedrooms and suites with private baths. The famous Cunard cuisine and service. (Only one sitting for meals.) Free optional return passage at later date by any Cunard steamer from France or England. Rates, deck plans, itinerary and full informa- tion on request. Early reservation advisable. Also De Luxe Tours to Europe. South America, Japan, China and California. = FRANK TOURIST CO. (Eatablished 1875) 489 FIFTH AVE., NEW YORK 219 So. 15thST., PHILADELPHIA © Macmillan Christmas Books A SHORT HISTORY OF THE WORLD BY H. G. WELLS The romance of world history is Mr. Wells’ theme. Shorn of the elaboration and complication of prosy de- tail and illustrated with over two hundred photographs and drawings, this new book forms an interesting, informing, authoritative story of man through the ages. $4.00 A brilliant new novel by Miss Sinclair ANNE SEVERN AND THE FIELDINGS by May Sinclair A novel of love, honor, pity, and remorse centered in three principal characters and worked out to a supreme issue through the action of one of them. $2.00 A novel of New England character OLD CROW by Alice Brown Disillusioned by the war, John Raven returns, to his New England home where, through his pity and care for two bewildered neighbors, he finds new interests in life. $2.00 An absorbing novel of America today AN HONORABLE MAN by Arthur Somers Roche The never solved debate of idealism versus materialism. Jim Willoughby’s success is contrasted with the spiritual growth of his friend, Sam Foyle. A strong story of life, honor, and truth, —philosophy and science. $2.00 For sale at any bookshop or direct from THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 64-66 Fifth Avenue ‘ New York Not Proven I LONG had longed to know about what women chatter so about When they believe that absolutely no one else is present: I gained my object sorrily—I listened most immorally— The means were underhanded, but the end was not un- pleasant. The gentle dame who carried me away, long since, and married me, Was entertaining friends at tea upon the east veranda: Behind my study lattice (fie!) I heard enough to satisfy The most devoted fan for feministic propaganda! cs 3 They chattered like a rookery, but not of dress or coo) : The gossip they indulged in was entirely free from scandal, Of jazz affairs and skittish hops, of bargains at the city shops, , No word occurred to give my preconceptio any handle. In kitchen or in nursery, their interest was cursory; They never spoke of cinemas, nor bridge, nor opera- tions. Their scorn of the conventional appeared almosi inten- tional— I listened with amazement to undreamed-of revelations! They spoke of miscellaneous events contemporaneous, The foreign situation, the domestic tariff menace; The latest strike vicissitude was handled with solicitude— They talked of Walter Hagen’s golf, and Susie Len- glen’s tennis. The pot began to percolate—the intellectual circle ate And drank and left. I sat amid the ruins of a blunder! But had they caught me listening? My dear wife's eyes were glistening— And have I learned a single thing about it all? I wonder ! T. R. The next time, they won't intrust the hanging of the mistletoe to their kid sister. comicbooks.com