Life, 1883-07-12 · page 5 of 16
Life — July 12, 1883 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "A Doubtful Compliment" - Life Magazine Page 15 **The Cartoon:** A man (Mr. Jones) hands a silver dollar to a woman while making a compliment. She responds that it "reminds me of you" because it "makes up in beauty what it lacks in sense." The humor relies on the woman's backhanded insult—she's calling the man beautiful but stupid, disguised as flattery. The note clarifies Mrs. Jones doesn't know if she's genuinely angry or joking, adding to the satire of domestic interactions and unclear feminine intent—a common theme in early 20th-century humor about marriage dynamics. **The Poetry Section:** Below is a sentimental poem titled "Kate" by James Whitcomb Riley, and a brief note about wartime manufacturing, likely from WWI era based on the reference to "new men of war."
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SN AY Z g y :g g Z y % SSS = WY A DOUBTFUL COMPLIMENT. Mr. Jones (handing a silver dollar to the joy of his household): MY DEAR, DO YOU KNOW THIS REMINDS ME OF you, Mrs. J.: INDEED, WHY SO? Mr, J.: lv MAKES UP IN BEAUTY WHAT IT LACKS IN SENSE. (Mrs. J. does not know whether to be real mad or real glad.) KATE. When buzzing things, with double wings . Of cris d raspish flutteri HEN languid cattle low, and all Go bunting bein very nig The land is dim with evenfall, One thinks of fangs and stings,— I know my Kate is waiting me E: tantly—Expectantly. Bpeeraney apes ¥ O then, within, is stilled the din When chirping crickets faintly cry, Of crib she rocks the baby in, And pale stars blossom in the sky, And at the gate the latch’s weight And twilight gloom has dimmed the bloom, Is lifted—and the lips of Kate! And blurred the butterfly,— James Walton Rite, When locust-blossoms fleck the walk, And up the tiger-lily-stalk The glowworm crawls and clings and falls Deaters in old junk are, of course, delighted to know that And glimmers down the garden walls,— Mr. Roach is to build our new men of war, comicbooks.com