Life, 1884-01-17 · page 3 of 16
Life — January 17, 1884 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 31 The "Musical" cartoon satirizes concert-goers' inability to recognize classical compositions. Miss Blanche cannot identify Rubinstein's "Angel," prompting Prof. Krashbangski (a caricatured foreign pianist) to sardonically suggest the piece is in "two flats"—a technical musical pun implying the audience members themselves are "flat" or dull-witted. The page also includes "My King," a romantic poem from the sixteenth century about courtship and devotion, plus three brief anecdotes: one about Jones appearing aged after rough seas, another about a Westerner attempting to hire "Hamlet" as a placard from a bookstore. The satire targets wealthy concert audiences' pretension and cultural ignorance during the Gilded Age.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
I DO NOT RECOGNIZE IT. WA MUSICAL. Miss Blanche: THey say THAT 1S RuBINSTEIN’s “ANGEL” THAT THOSE PEOPLE ARE SINGING ; BUT WHAT KEY ARE THEY SINGING IT IN? Prof. Krashbangski (the famous pianist): Two FLats, I sHouLD say. MY KING. A ROMANCE OF THE XIXTH CENTURY. HEN and where shall I earliest find him ! Whether ’t is best to be gay or shy, Or if my face may perchance remind him Of some one he loved in days gone by ? If he’ll wear plumpers to make his cheeks fatter, Ora smile round his toothless mouth will play ? To me such trifles can scarcely matter, If hell ask me to name the wedding-day. I shall not dream of him tall or stately, Provided he is n’t too well and strong ; He may crawl to the altar, or walk sedately, If only his stay in this world is n’t long. What care I though his bald head be shining ? Each hope towards that beacon its flight shall wing— Many years for an old man my heart has been pining, And gladly I’ll welcome my King, my King! But he must be rich, or I’ll never take him, And old, and decrepit, the man that I love; And every means shall be used to make him Leave me his money, when he goes above. I don’t think I'll smother him while he is sleeping— Since Othello, that’s rather a hackneyed thing ; But though the stars fall or the angels are weeping, I'll doctor his coffee—my King, my King ! M. H. G. SMITH met Jones on the deck of an ocean steamer one calm morning after several days of very rough weather: “Why, I declare, Jones,” said Smith, “you look years older than when I last saw you !” “No wonder,” answered Jones. “I have had several berth days lately.” A WESTERNER saw a placard bearing the words “Hamlet” in a book store. He went in and said he would like to hire some. comicbooks.com