Life, 1883-12-13 · page 6 of 16
Life — December 13, 1883 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 302 The main cartoon depicts a large bear menacing children huddled in a cave, with an "annoyed parent" warning them about danger. The text reads: "THINK OF YOUR MOTHER / REMEMBER YOUR PERC[?]... THE ICE IS TOO THIN... TROUBLE IS BREWIN'... 'TWILL BE YOUR RUIN'... SURELY GET IN... THINK OF YOUR MOTHER / REMEMBER YOUR PERC." **The bear likely represents a political threat or danger** (possibly war, economic collapse, or a foreign power), while the children represent citizens or a nation. The "annoyed parent" voice warns of various perils—thin ice, brewing trouble, financial ruin—using maternal concern as rhetorical appeal. The surrounding text contains light satirical observations about society, including quips about journalists, politicians, and fashionable society—typical of Life's general commentary style. The specific political reference remains unclear without additional historical context.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Voice oF THE Nx10U5 PARE ciepaese FORBEAR. HINK oF Your MoTHE Aehempen Yooh PS R/S WuaT ARE ‘You Doing i] THE ICE IS Too THIN. \A ly TROUBLE 18 BREWIN ‘Twilt BE Your Runt! You LL SURELY GET INAS! THINK OF YOUR moTHeRN SN “REMEMBER, Your PERE. Tue man who can thoroughly enjoy himself at a fashionable reception after discovering the bow of his white tie is under his left ear, is superior to the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, It is always unnecessary to tell people to get out of the road of a swill cart. “ Where there's swill there ’s a way. “Wett, that baits all,” re- marked the Irish fisherman as he looked into his can in vain fora worm. “A $75,000 high school is nearly completed. in Warren, O.,” saysacurrentitem. “How tall is a $75,000 high school ?” "THOUGH an aeronaut may not make his ascents for wages, he certainly goes up for higher. JOURNALISTS are noble men; they always go in for the write. AN old illuminator.—A monk of the Middle Ages. Licut literature.—The chandler’s journal, A STRONG case.—Sweitzer. BECAUSE a man has a Mobile coun- tenance it does not follow that he is Alabama life. Tue thread of a story is generally caught by the eye of the reader. A BRUNETTE flirt is like Captain Eads—she is successful with her jet eyes. A RING politician is like one who rocrastinates—it's always slate with im, that when a hen died she (the hen, not Miss Pussy) became a spring chicken and was worth just twice as much as when it was alive, but Miss Pussy said it was n't the money she cared about, but that facing and seeing death was, to her, very sad and solemn. “That shows you have never been to any of the Boston ‘Assemblies,’ ” replied Thad. as he sadly stroked the bald spot on his head. They sat up with their patient until breakfast-time, when they went into the house, and Thad. was received with effuson by Mr. Cotter, who said that it was a real treat to him to meet a gentleman in a place so filled with millionaires, and he went on to say, that, as New- port was the one place on the face of the globe where money went for nothing and respectability was every- thing, he was at a loss to understand why the million- aires persisted in coming there. Mr. Cotter was a florid, fluffy little man, who some- how reminded one of an over-ripe watermelon, and he was so given to talk and gossip that he was known among his friends as “Terror” Cotter. He was, however, quite respectable, as he knew who his father and mother were, and even faint rumors of a grand- father had reached him, and this, as we all know, con- stitutes in America a pedigree. In addition to this he was quite rich, having made his money by scientific marrying, a process which he looked upon as one of the regular branches of industry, and which consisted comicbooks.com