Life, 1923-10-18 · page 33 of 44
Life — October 18, 1923 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page mixes satirical poetry, advertising, and corporate public relations content typical of early 20th-century Life magazine. **"Lessons" (poem):** A nostalgic reflection on youthful romantic foolishness versus aged wisdom. The speaker recalls wastefully spending money on gifts for multiple women ("Jessie," "May," "Pansy," "Flo"), then boasts he's now learned to impress women with more sophisticated, expensive gifts (Gorham's silverware, rare books, opera tickets). The satire targets male vanity and materialism disguised as maturity. **Redfern Wrap-Around corset ad:** A standard fashion advertisement for women's undergarments, emphasizing comfort and natural curves while maintaining a small waist—reflecting period beauty standards. **"Multiplying Man-power":** A Bell System corporate advertisement celebrating mechanized labor efficiency. It contrasts manual hole-digging (3-5 holes daily) with derrick-powered boring (80 poles daily with just three operators). The piece frames technological advancement as worker-friendly progress, though it implicitly celebrates how machines reduce labor needs. The page reflects pre-Depression industrial optimism and gendered consumer culture.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Lessons Wuen I was young I had no sense (Ah, me, the spell of laughing eyes), And foolishly I spent my pence On cure-alls for a maiden’s sighs. On sweets for Jessie, gloves for May; On this for Pansy, that for Flo I squandered what I had each day, When I was young...and did not know. But now I’m old and rated wise (Ah, me, the lessons of the years), And I have learned the subtle lies That lend enchantment to the dears. A gift from Gorham’'s, or a book, A rare edition, tooled in gold, An opera party—thus each look I still respond to...now I’m old. To the man with pick and shovel the digging of holes for telephone poles is a slow and arduous task. Under favorable soil conditions three to five holes are for him an average day’s work. Under adverse condi- tions perhaps he can account for only one. When the hole is dug, eight or ten men are required to raise the pole with pikes. et —) ) a —_aree | But the hole-borer with derrick attached, operated by only three men, can erect as many as eighty poles in a day—teleasing for other telephone work upwards of forty men. WRAP- 5 x \ Hundreds of devices to quicken telephone construc- tion, to increase its safety to the employee, and to effect AROUND ie) | economies are being utilized in the Bell System. Experi- 4 ments are constantly being made to find the better and shorter way to do a given job. Each tool invented for the industry must be developed to perfection. HIS REDFERN Wraparound, In the aggregate these devices to multiply man-power Te! /234, offers perfect comfort mean an enormous yearly saving of time, labor and and perfect contour to the woman of money throughout the whole Bell System. Without them relatively small waist and natural telephone service would be rendered neither as promptly, curves. Note how the double hose sup- as efficiently nor as economically as it is to-day. porter and special designing prevent any riding up. “BELL SYSTEM” In brocade, $16.50 In coutil, $8.50 s\JAMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY AND ASSOCIATED COMPANIES One Policy, One System, Universal Service, and all directed toward Better Service Jonesville as an Ether Marker leven children back on the old farm und the only time they sent for the I've got to stay over and see when the cow was sick proprietor of the top and ask his » i th rr and th ye comicbooks:com