Life, 1886-06-17 · page 12 of 16
Life — June 17, 1886 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page Analysis This page from *Life* contains several satirical pieces mocking contemporary social conventions: **"The Balloon Bonnet"** (Figures 4-6): A farcical invention by Wallace Peck satirizing women's defensive strategies against aggressive male suitors. The bonnet—a silk balloon with an alcohol sponge—inflates when ignited, lifting women away from men's advances. This mocks both the escalating "protection" devices marketed to women and the predatory behavior of men that necessitated them. **"Sympathy with Nature"**: A brief joke about a young poet romanticizing autumn, while his companion pragmatically notes that autumn means broken engagements—satirizing flowery sentimentality versus harsh reality. **"The Infant Class"**: A children's riddle joke where students struggle until a girl correctly answers that a cat has "kittens" (babies)—innocent humor about childhood logic. **"My Mistake"** (poem by A.S. Kimball): A man regrets not kissing a woman more aggressively on first opportunity, vowing future boldness. It satirizes male entitlement regarding women's affection. These pieces collectively satirize courtship dynamics, social pretension, and gender relations of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
another invention will furnish them with an additional safeguard. The new article is called ‘the Balloon Bonnet.” Its crown is simply a silk balloon collapsed, so as to form a very pretty turban, At the back is an alcohol sponge, daintily trimmed with point lace ; and at the approach FIGURE 4. | of the brute the spirit is ignited; the bonnet, under the effect of the gas | thereby generated, expands into a balloon ; and the woman is lifted into space just as her enemy's horns approach her. Wallace Peck. SYMPATHY WITH NATURE. OUNG POET: Nature, in all her moods, is alluring, but to me the autumn is the crown of the year. She (in lingering tones of intense appre- * ciation): Oh, yes/ And then all the en- gagements come out. THE INFANT CLASS. “| ae Jessie, can you tell me what it is that acat has that no other animal has ? Jessie: Fur. Teacher: Wrong. Carrie, what is it? Carrie: 1 don’t know, ma’am. Little Ethel (holding up her hand): Please, ma’am, I know. Teacher: Well, Ethel, what is it? Ethel: Kittens. FROM THE FRENCH. M R. X. is a terrible coquet. Yesterday he found himself suffer- ing very. “Is it necessary to send to search a | doctor. well enough to see him.” ELASTIC is best on the home stretch. “No” said he, “1 do not feel myself | PicuRE 6. SNOWING THE BALLOON BONNET 1X ‘OPERATIO! MY MISTAKE. STOLE just one kiss, But made quite a miss, Because I did n't take two; For the next time I tried, She stood on her pride, And told me it never would do. I tried it once more, As I stood at the door, And was bidding a fervent good-bye ; But she tossed back her head, And coquettishly said, ““T guess you had better not try.” So the next time I called, And the next, and the next, I made every effort in vain ; ‘Till at last in despair, I made up my mind, That I never would try it again. But to think that one kiss Was the sum of my bliss, When I might have had dozens instead ; So the next time, I swear, I'll take all there are there, And then I ‘ll be so much ahead. A. S. Kimball, BOUND OUT TO SERVICE—Going to church. comicbooks.com