Life, 1885-01-15 · page 3 of 16
Life — January 15, 1885 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Power of Love" - Life Magazine Cartoon This cartoon satirizes domestic discord. A woman confronts Mr. Dehyper about "Freddy" making a nuisance of himself, while Mr. D. insists they're "having a gorgeous time." A man lies passed out on a bench with his hat fallen off, apparently drunk or unconscious. The satire targets marital tension: the wife objects to Freddy's disruptive behavior (implied drunkenness—"gasps for breath"), while the husband dismisses her complaints, prioritizing male camaraderie over domestic peace. The "power of love" title is ironic—suggesting that romantic attachment should resolve conflicts, but instead the husband's loyalty to his friend Freddy undermines marital harmony. The joke reflects period anxieties about alcohol and masculine socializing conflicting with respectable family life.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE POWER OF LOVE. She: ANCE! WE ARE HAVING A GORGEOUS TIME, Gasps for breath and prances off up the stairs again. LINES, Written on a fly-leaf of H.C. Bunner’s * Airs from Arcady and Elsewhere.”* E gentle airs, so sweetly blown From Arcady and other places, Telling of fields of hay new-mown, Of leafy lanes with sun-lit spaces, Of loving hearts and dimpled faces, Of hurried kisses—long embraces, Of tangled curls and tumbled laces— Of every careless joy that’s known ! Breathe soft, with blossom-freighted wings, On young and old, on slaves and kings ; And while our minstrel picks the strings, Whisper the notes he sweetly sings— Ye gentle airs. H. L, SATTERLEE, WHY, MR. DEHYPER! YOU MUST NOT LET FREDDY MAKE SUCH A NUISANCE OF HIMSELF. Mr. D. (who has always detested children, and is painfully particular about his dress) : HEy, FREDDY ? Nor A BIT OF ANU MRS. SPRIGGINS INDIGNANT. RS. SPRIGGINS, although a constant reader of the newspapers, is apt to skim lightly over the head- lines, leaving the continuation of the articles largely to her imagination. In reading the 77mes a few days since she saw the line, REDUCING POTTERS’ WAGES, whereupon she became very angry, and talked poor Sprig- gins half to death, because “them church syndicants was so almity mean to that poor old Bishop !” HE barber's most appropt [This is a joke. foam.— Boston Globe. other joke. ate present—a meerschaum. Meerschaum is the German for sea- Meerschaum? Pooh! [This is an- [Mere sham-poo.] A GIRL, at least, may smile and smile and be a-willin’,