Life, 1884-07-17 · page 1 of 16
Life — July 17, 1884 — page 1: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "A Flat?" - Life Magazine, July 17, 1884 This satirical cartoon jokes about a newly married couple's housing troubles. The husband, recently wed, complains that he's been "ransacking the city to get a stylish flat for next winter, but I couldn't find one." His wife replies tartly: "You are not as lucky as your wife." The humor pivots on the word "flat"—slang for an apartment. The wife's retort implies her "luck" was finding him as a husband, the ultimate "flat" (meaning an unsatisfactory or disappointing thing). The satire reflects late-19th-century American anxieties about urban housing shortages and the social expectations placed on husbands to provide suitable accommodations. The punchline delivers a cutting commentary on marriage itself as a questionable bargain for women.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
can be, rough 1 com. every. > Inter VOLUME Iv. NEW YORK, JULY 17, 1884. Entered at New York Post Office as Second-Clase Mall Matter. NUMBER 81. Grewent says BY sJAaiTcweue: She: WHY DID YOU COME TO THE COUNTRY SO LATE THIS YEAR? He (recently married): 1 HAVE BEEN RANSACKING THE CITY TO GET A STYLISH FLAT FOR NEXT WINTER, BUT I COULD N’T FIND ONE. She: YOU ARE NOT AS LUCKY AS YOUR WIFE. sorcerer era comicbooks.com