Life, 1885-04-09 · page 4 of 16
Life — April 9, 1885 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Glimpses of Paradise, No. 6" The main illustration depicts winged beginners awkwardly attempting flight in Paradise—some floundering comically in the air while children jeer. The accompanying text explains the satirical premise: in Paradise, there's "nothing to fear" and "no breaking of limbs or physical pain as in the old life," making the spectacle of dignified newcomers stumbling around harmlessly all the more ridiculous. The cartoon mocks the contrast between Paradise's supposed perfection and the undignified reality of learning to fly. It's gentle religious satire about human vanity and the gap between heavenly ideals and actual experience. The series apparently offered humorous vignettes of afterlife scenarios for Life magazine's readers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
GLIMPSES OF PARADISE, No. 6. NE'S first efforts with a pair of wings are always interesting, and afford much delight to lookers on. A want of courage is all the more laughable, as one has, in reality, nothing to, fear, there being in Paradise no breaking of limbs or physical pain as in the old life. It is a common thi amid the jeers and wit flyers for centuries. ments. 0 see dignified beginners floundering about in the air s_ of little children, many of whom have been skillful Hence it is they prefer a secluded spot for these experi- The scene on the opposite page is in a quiet corner of one of the many gardens that surround the Palace of the Sinless Sinners. X-ATTORNEY- — has retired to private life and brass buttons in Phila- delphia once more. g He has declined a complimentary dinner, because so many poor people are in actual want of a good square meal. Benjamin ought to know. He was a very poor Attorney- General. B KY JONES has been evicted at last. She will ever be remembered as the only woman in history who could hold her tongue, and who didn’t care to lecture about it afterward. . . . * . . f I HE Tribune is still suffering severely with intermittent Fawcett. . . . \ K JE verily believe that if George Washington was asked to-day who chopped the cherry-tree, he would reply: “Father, I cannot tell a lie, Ferdinand Ward did it.” NERAL BENJ. H. BLUSTER | HE latest issue among Sunday-school books is Shoe- maker's Dialogues. A hasty perusal shows that special attention is given to the sole and heeling the same, with a few remarks suitable for those who have reached their last hours thrown in. . . . F Ben. Butler does not sue the Century for that picture in the April number, he is not the man we take him for. We had not thought it possible that the lily of Butler's beauty could be painted, but it seems we were mistaken. The dynamite scare is nothing alongside of it. . . . LL political news in the 7rzbune, after the 1st of May, is to be printed in red ink, so as to make its incendiary character still more noticeable. It is believed that the 7yzbune will shortly declare war with the Administration, and if it does the Administration will have a hard time of it. The iron-clad cheek and vast fund of misinformation at the | paper’s command make it a formidable adversary. . . . 73 ETTERS From Hell" is the lurid title of a recently published volume. They are translated from the original Asbestos by George MacDonald. comicbooks.com