Life, 1887-03-10 · page 1 of 18
Life — March 10, 1887 — page 1: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "A Colorable Case" This 1887 *Life* magazine cartoon satirizes Victorian social conventions around mourning dress. The widow (identified as "three years" into mourning) consults a clergyman about her dark clothing, claiming it's "a little too dark" given her "circumstances." The joke turns on the double meaning of "colorable"—both her literal dress color and the phrase "a colorable excuse" (a plausible but false justification). She's seeking religious permission to wear lighter mourning clothes, implying her grief may be performative rather than genuine. The clergyman's offer to help her find "another one of your sex...with poor dear Mrs. Lightfoot" suggests she's really interested in remarriage. The cartoon mocks the rigid social theater of Victorian mourning practices.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
NOLUME IX. ppc hicany, s SVM. EW YORK, MARCH 10, 1887. Entered at New York Post Office as Second-Class Mail Matter. Copyright, 1887, by Mrrewmut. & Mitige. A COLORABLE CASE. The Widow (three years) Larmier: ATTICUS, I-ER—INTEND TO LIGHTEN MY MOURNING AFTER LENT, AND I'M AFRAID YOUR COLOR IS A LITTLE f00 DARK FOR THE—ER—CIRCUMSTANCES, So, IF YOU KNOW OF ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR RACE SEVERAL SHADES /ighter, 1 THINK YOU COULD GET A PLACE WITH POOR DEAR Mrs. Liont- FOOT, WHO HAS JUST LOST MR. L.; SO WE CAN ALL BE NICELY ACCOMMODATED, comicbooks.com