Life — November 6, 1931 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page features "The Letters of a Modern Father," a humorous advice column. The illustration depicts a father instructing his daughter and her friends about physical fitness or exercise classes, with the caption "You ladies must remember that Rome wasn't built in a day." The cartoon satirizes modern parenting and youth culture of the era. The father's comment—a common proverb about patience—appears to reference the girls' exercise routine or physical training, suggesting he's humorously cautioning them against expecting quick results from fitness efforts. The text discusses the father's various concerns about his daughter's life: her social activities, friendships, school progress, and summer plans. The overall tone mocks the earnest, somewhat old-fashioned advice fathers give to their daughters about conduct and ambition in what the magazine presents as a "modern" context.