Life, 1927-09-15 · page 16 of 40
Life — September 15, 1927 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes 1890s fashion, specifically the requirement that respectable women wear hats in public. The caption—a tongue-in-cheek commentary on crime statistics—claims that women couldn't be considered "defenseless" as long as they wore hats, suggesting the hat itself was their weapon or protection. The illustration shows a well-dressed woman pointing assertively at three men outside what appears to be a bicycle shop (note the "Columbia Bicycle" sign). The woman's prominent hat and commanding posture suggest she's the dominant figure in this interaction. The humor targets Victorian-era gender norms and the absurdity of attributing women's safety to millinery fashion rather than actual social change. It's satirizing both the era's strict dress codes and the statistical claims used to justify them.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Gay Nineties WITHOUT REFERRING TO STATISTICS ON THE SUBJECT, WE HAZARD THE GUESS THAT THE PRESENT CRIME WAVE STARTED AT THE TIME THAT WOMEN CEASED TO WEAR IAT PINS AT ANY RATE A WOMAN OF THE NINETIES COULD NEVER BE CONSIDERED DEFENSELESS AS LONG AS SIE TAD HER HAT ON Atmospheric ENIAL HOST: T[ want you all to please line up along the wall and wait. It'll be a very good idea if you'll wait until you're tired, until you're tired of looking at the wall, at the person ahead of you, at the ceiling, at the decorations of the room, and so on. While you're waiting, please chew gum. If you haven't any gum, just waggle your jaws anyway. It'll also be a good idea if you'll hum, shift from one leg to the other, look at your fingernails, and lean on your neigh hor. If he objects, give him a dirty look. You ladies will please get out your vanity cases every two or three minutes, That'll be a big help. We want as much perfume and powder in the air as possible. But the main thing is to wait. Begin right away. I'll be back in a moment dressed as an usher, and after I've kept you waiting about two hours, Ill let you into the parlor, where the machine is. I'll let you in one at a time, and lead you to your seats with exaggerated courtesy. You can't enjoy these home movies unless you've got the proper atmosphere, you know. Tupper Greenwald. Right! NATIVE: No, sit, there's no pesky realtors inthis town. Steaxarn: Fine! Then this ix the place for me! Native: And what might your business be? Sraaxcen: U'm a realtor comicbooks.com