Life — July 16, 1885 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is a satirical cartoon titled "Scene. Fashionable Summer Resort. Time. Mid-Summer." by Kepple (the artist's signature). The main joke depicts a caricatured figure in the foreground with an exaggerated grin, holding what appears to be a knife or utensil. Behind him, well-dressed resort guests are actively engaged in various leisure activities—swimming, socializing, and relaxing. The inset dialogue at top-left reads: "Give us your hand 'old boy. Haven't seen anything of you for a year." This sarcastically contrasts the speaker's friendly greeting with the oblivious front-figure's menacing appearance and pose. The satire likely mocks the contrast between genteel summer resort culture and an uncouth or threatening presence disrupting polite society—a commentary on class tensions or the intrusion of crude behavior into refined social spaces during this period.