Life, 1923-04-05 · page 33 of 40
Life — April 5, 1923 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising with a satirical column**. The main content is "The Reflections of a Mother-in-Law," a humorous monologue by a rural mother-in-law observing her modern, urban daughter-in-law Minnie's life. **The Satire:** The joke contrasts old-fashioned farm values with early-1900s consumer culture. The mother-in-law marvels at labor-saving devices like electric appliances, yet notes that Minnie's greatest "labor-saving device" is her ability to charge purchases—she spent money on clothes without asking permission, justifying it as efficiency. The final line ("the sheep dog beaten") implies Minnie's financial independence surpasses even practical farm innovations. **Social Context:** This gently mocks the emerging consumer economy and women's expanding access to credit, while celebrating (somewhat sarcastically) modern conveniences replacing farmwork. The advertisements below promote women's fashion items—corsets and dress linings—typical for the era's Life magazine audience.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
> — se | awe. ™ The Reflections of a Mother-in-Law ‘\VHENEVER I watch Minnie tling about her electro-me- cal apartment I think of the s Lamech used to sit and i to me out of the Farm Journal labor-saving devices. The ( we ever came to one while we ved on the farm was the time we ssed the old sheep dog to the ] thought I had seen them all, but howed me a new one to-day. hree weeks I’d been trying to p enough courage to tell her wanted to go and visit Ella’s n Ohio a spell but didn’t want ert her with her spring sewing me. When I finally gave her hint, she turned off the electric Trade-mark Urner s WRAP-AROUND Not—How well corseted! Bui—What alovely figure! hat is the comment which proves the superior merit of a Warner’s Wrap-around, the Cor- set Invisible. There is never a hint of its presence under your frock. !t does not stretch like a rubber girdle; it is more convenient and more modern than a laced corset. In coutil or brocade with panels of surgical elastic which take the place of lacings. For all figures, from slender to stout. Style illustrated, $3.50. Other models, $1.50 up. Wrap-a:cunds are made only by The Warner Brothers Company, New York, Chicago, San Francisco. Made by The Warner Brothers Co., Montreal. eo TIFFANY & GO. JEWELRY PEARLS SILVERWARE SINCE 1837- QUALITY MAIL INQUIRIES GIVEN PROMPT ATTENTION FIFTH AVENUE & 37 STREET NEW YORK dish-washer kind of slow and sur- veyed me up and down. ““Spring sewing?’ she said. ‘I attended to that two weeks ago. I said to Harold, “How strong can I go on the charge accounts for sum- mer clothes—seven or eight hun- dred?” He hesitated a minute and then told me to make it five hundred. Well, I only needed four hundred so one afternoon while you were taking a nap I ran downtown and bought the duds. So you go on to Ohio.’ “As a labor-saving device Min’s charge accounts have certainly got the sheep dog beaten.” McC. H. “I went to an Irish wedding last night—” “I suppose the groom wore the conventional black eye?” READY-TO-WEAR DRESS LININGS A few minutes—a few stitches and you have a better made, better fit- ting lining than you could make. Stylish, comfortable and durable, Nainsook, Net Messaline. Ail_ Sizes, with or without Shields 50 cents to $1.25 The C. E. Conover Co. Manufacturers 101 Franklin St., N.Y. Made by the makers of NAIAD DRESS SHIELDS comicbooks.com