Life, 1886-11-25 · page 1 of 16
Life — November 25, 1886 — page 1: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "A Long Head" - Life Magazine, November 25, 1886 This cartoon satirizes a domestic dispute over a missing letter. Mrs. Greene confronts Timothy about a letter left on the bureau. Timothy claims he put it in the letter-box (mailbox), but Mrs. Greene suspects otherwise—particularly that he didn't want the recipient to know who sent it, given the lack of address on the envelope. The humor relies on the double meaning of "a long head"—suggesting Timothy either has a literally elongated head (visible in his caricature) or possesses cunning/deviousness. The cartoon mocks Timothy's guilty behavior and weak excuse, presenting a common Victorian domestic conflict over mail and secrets within marriage. The title emphasizes his apparent scheming.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OLUME VIII. pehicanys SVM. Ten Cents a K px» & Sy Ry NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 25, 1886. Entered at New York Post Office as Second-Class Mail Matter. Copyright, 1886, by Mrrcwmnt & Minar, A LONG HEAD. Mrs. Greene: TIMOTHY, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE LETTER THAT WAS LYING ON THE BUREAU? Timothy: | put 1T INTO THE LETTER-BOX, MA'M. Mrs, G.: OH! PROVOKING! DID N’T YOU SEE THERE WAS NO ADDRESS ON THE ENVELOPE ? Timothy: Yes, Ma'M; BUT 1 THOUGHT YER DID N’T WANT NOBODY TO KNOW WHO You WAS WRITIN’ TO, comicbooks.com