Life, 1922-12-14 · page 3 of 36
Life — December 14, 1922 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a poem titled "The Light of Arcady" (credited B.C.N.) about maritime romance and longing, paired with an illustration showing two women in conversation on a couch with a small dog. The cartoon's humor derives from the dialogue caption: "Which of them got the divorce?" / "Oh, it seems to have been one of those Paris Mutuals." The joke references "Paris Mutual" divorce procedures—likely referring to the ease of obtaining divorces in Paris, which made it a destination for Americans seeking separations during an era of stricter divorce laws in the U.S. The satirical point mocks fashionable society women casually discussing divorce as a mundane social occurrence, treating a legal separation as merely another aspect of their privileged lifestyle.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Lye The Light of Arcady WHITE gull and a silver sail, The gull dips and the sail tips, And a dazzling golden sea; And shadows dim the deep; A light breeze and an endless trail The winds shift and the clouds drift, That leads to Arcady; And the trail is hard to keep; A blue sky and a curving shore, A dark sky and a darker shore, And a beach of drifted sand; And the beach with spray is white; A snug house with an open door, But the snug house with open door And a waving beckoning hand. Has a gleaming beacon light. Sing ho, my heart! though a lass may weep, There is Love awaiting me; I'll steer my ship across the deep To the light of Arcady. B.C. N. Latah ——— “Which of them got the divorce?” “Oh, it seems to have been one of those Paris Mutuals.” comicbooks.com