Life, 1925-08-27 · page 19 of 36
Life — August 27, 1925 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two satirical pieces about 1920s upper-middle-class domestic life. **Top section ("She Stoops to Conquer"):** A couple tours an expensive apartment ($1,500/month) with a dismissive janitor. The satire targets young married couples' financial anxieties—they can barely afford the rent, worry about impressing the husband's visiting mother, and complain about the cost while simultaneously admiring the apartment. The janitor's "disdainful suspicion" mocks working-class judgment of struggling wealthy people. **Bottom section ("Unnatural"):** A husband expresses worry that nothing went wrong today—suggesting domestic life has become so predictably comfortable that the absence of crisis feels threatening. The accompanying cartoon shows a wife frantic over a missing golf scarf, highlighting the trivial concerns of leisure-class women. Both pieces satirize 1920s prosperity-era anxieties: financial strain despite apparent wealth, class consciousness, and the boredom of affluent domestic life.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
or Sefind we must be sure there’s room for your mother, , det J $ Wee bed » (T chet > i gent is the second floor, marm. ins the rent, If you'll just step in the clevator I'll show you. ap to the apartment.) his is a nice large room, darling, so sunny. Yes, you get the sun here all day. don’t believe we can afford so much sun. + This is fifteen hundred. t can't include the sun! (quite matter-of-fact): Yes, but not electricity > There's only that one bedroom, marm. ofp}, that’s all right, it's for standing her. I think T would go under these ceilings, don’t you, dear? itor.) You see, we have to keep her on the ice- the pantry ceiling is higher. wife refers to my mother's bust. (The janitor Sue: She's com- ing North this fall, and we'd hate to have her see where she is, that's why I want to sce where she'll go. He: Darling, you are priceless. Sue: I wish the apartment was. Fif- teen hundred is more than we meant to pay. He pay No one ever what they meant to. Sue: We'd better think it over, dar- Janitor: won't get a sunnier place. Sue: Oh, we like the sun, if we could afford it. (They go out, and the janitor returns to his awn- ing, looking down at them with disdainful suspicion.) Sue (looking up at the janitor as they cross the street): It’s just what we wanted. It’s too bad we brought him down, but we didn't know it was so high, They are going up all the time. I suppose they never come down, do they? He: Are you talking about janitors or about rents? You know you mix things up so—dear. “ou, “SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER” Sue (peeved): You used to say you loved the way I mixed things up. He: I do love it, darling. I hope you'll always do it. (She does.) Unnatural IFE: Anything go wrong to-day? Hussann: Nothing. That's what worries me. Lorre DEAR, 1 DID SO WANT TO PLAY GOLF TO-DAY AND I SIMPLY CANNOT FIND THE SCARF FOR THIS OUTFIT.” comicbooks.com