Life, 1925-11-12 · page 16 of 41
Life — November 12, 1925 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the idealized "perfect maid" through contrasting lists. The top illustration shows a **licensed restaurant** (likely mocking employment agencies), where a well-dressed man presents maids to prospective employers—suggesting the commercialized domestic servant market. The text lists absurdly contradictory expectations: she "never has a cold," handles cocktails without tasting them, remembers glove counts, yet somehow also manages wardrobe, polishes silver, and plays bridge. The satirical point is clear: employers demanded impossible perfection from domestic workers while taking their labor for granted. The bottom illustration shows a woman speaking to her employer, with the caption "HURRY UP, WATER, AND IN A MINUTE YOU'LL HEAR YOURSELF GO 'GOGGLEDYGOO'"—mocking how employers treated maids as nearly invisible servants, rushing them along without acknowledgment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LICENSED PEDESTRIAN No, 1 Tey 180 The Perfect Maid HE never has a cold in the head. Over the telephone, “Mr. Snod- grass” does not sound to her like “Mr. Smith.” She shakes a wicked cocktail with- out tasting it. Her idea is “the more the merrier” at meal times. She remembers how many gloves are at the cleancr’s and whether or not you had sweetbreads on the eighth of October. She is an excellent liar in your in terests, but never against them. She has no predatory inclination towards your wardrobe. She is a good amateur masseuse and hairdresser. She likes your friends and remem- bers to thank them for what they bring her from Europe. Tt makes no difference to her which night she has off. She has no sick relatives. She is a man-hater. She never runs out of lemons and oranges, She doesn't think the gentlemen send the nuts, fruit and bonbons to her. She doesn’t throw out unread maga- zines and newspapers. She loves to wear her white caps. She goes out of her way to be pleas- She has no religion which requires her presence in church at the very hour you have chosen to start for the coun- try. She presses the chiffon sashes of her own accord. She never forgets to put in the bath salts. She does not care for jewelry or perfumes. She buys her own silk stockings, She can be trusted to gather up playing cards and put them away, She always knows what you did with the letter that came on Thursday, She clips the flower stems regularly, She confesses all casualties in china and crystal at the time of their occur- rence. She does not wear high shoes She goes to the dentist on her own time. She does not put the books back up- side down. She discovers holes and runs in stockings before the time comes to put them on. She does not order a squab for her- self on the nights when you are hav- ing corned beef and cabbage. She can always lend you twenty dollars. Polishing silver is her favorite in- door sport. She can, if necessary, make a fourth at bridge. Sometimes I see her—in dreams or on the stage. Baird Leonard. EPHEW: Well, Aunt Sophia, did you enjoy the football game? Aust: Not much, But the players, poor dears, really tried hard to be en- tertaining. ant to trained nurses. “SURRY UP, WATER, AND IN A MINUTE YOU'LL HEAR YOURSELF GO ‘GOOGLEDY-G00.” comicbooks.com