Life, 1927-07-07 · page 16 of 42
Life — July 7, 1927 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains "Mrs. Pep's Diary," a satirical column mocking women's ambitions and marital aspirations. The top cartoon depicts a woman fantasizing about wealth—imagining herself with money from a husband's earnings, which she plans to use for marriage. The illustration shows her daydreaming among large clouds, suggesting idle fantasy. The diary entry below critiques Henry Lewis's writing about American parades and fashion, while commenting on Nell Woodbury, whom the diarist describes as restless and overly ambitious. The author sarcastically suggests women's "happiest lot" is domestic—sitting on a cushion sewing—directly mocking feminist aspirations and women's desire for independence or careers. The satire ridicules both women's ambitions and popular cultural attitudes dismissing them.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Ilice: witht Ambition WHAT DO you po THE MONEY Your 10s BAND GIVES you? Virginia: saving rr ve June T am indeed pleased that the season is again at hand 14th for awnings, which are, me thinks, one of life's most delightful accessories, and when T look out at ours, gently flapping in the breeze, I can easily imagine that the Mediterranean lies beyond them, albeit know well they conceal nought but a firm of music publishers and a wholesale dc rat ing house. The pub lick prints full of the weleome to Colonel Lindbergh, the pictures successfully re fiut ing half of Sam's ifirmation that) Mayor Walker would give him the keys to the city and show him his new Nor folk suit, and IT could not but Ludwig of Bavaria’s re wonder what action would have been to the crowds, albeit: it surely could not be much sport to witness a procession all by one self. [> was minded, too, of what TO GET MARRIED! Ns Reps Diary Henry Lewis wrote about the Ameri can publick to the effect that one half of it liked to dress up and parade in the street and the other half liked to line up on the kerb- stone and watch. ‘To luncheon with “po YoU HELIEVE IN ‘New THlovGieT’?” Alfred “OM, NO, 1 JUST USE THE OLD ONES OVER AND OVER.” Nell Woodbury, and she tells me that she does long to set up as a shopkeeper, is becoming restless and an ambition with which I have no sympathy socver; for Lord! why women who are properly sheltered ind have devoted hus- bands should want to go out into a world of competitive strife is ut- terly beyond my com- prehension, and the older IT do grow, the more am I convinced that) woman's happiest lot is to sit on a cushion and sew a fine and | the fine seam part out seam, could even leave of it if I were speaking solely for myself. [ did warn Nell, also, that if her plan carried, she need not expect to be received in the future by the Ellsworths, whose boast it is that a divorcee or a woman breadwinner has never yet crossed their thresh- old, but it did not seem to discourage her. (Continued on page 3+ comicbooks.com