Life, 1886-05-06 · page 1 of 16
Life — May 6, 1886 — page 1: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "A Lover's Trials" - Life Magazine, May 6, 1886 This satirical cartoon depicts a romantic scenario titled "A Lover's Trials." A well-dressed gentleman (identified as "Monsieur le Baron") seeks parental permission to marry, while a woman (Miss Budsoon) holds a fan. The joke relies on the social convention that a suitor must ask a woman's mother for consent before marriage. The humor turns on Miss Budsoon's response: she's "so glad" about the proposal but notes it would be "funny" to call him "Papa"—implying the Baron is already her father figure, suggesting either an inappropriate age gap or scandalous family relationship. This mocks Victorian courtship customs and the absurdities of formal marriage protocols among European nobility.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
NEW YORK, MAY 6, 1886. NUMBER 175. Entered at New York Post Office as Second-Class Mall Matter. Copyright, 1886, by MITCHELL & MILLER. BYE RICAN 5 we SVM A LOVER'S TRIALS. Monsieur fe Baron: 1 HAF ASK YOUR MAMMA AND SHE GIF HER CONSENT—AND—NOW I—ER— Miss Bulfion: 1 aM SO GLAD! BuT won'r IT BE FUNNY TO CALL YOU PAPA, comicbooks.com