Life, 1887-04-28 · page 1 of 18
Life — April 28, 1887 — page 1: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "A Very Old Family" - Life Magazine, April 28, 1887 This cartoon satirizes genealogical pretension. Two well-dressed gentlemen examine a family pedigree on the wall. One (identified as "Snodson") is asked about his family's antiquity and what "that big gap in the middle" represents. His nervous reply—"That, er—well, er—Oh, that is the flood!"—is the joke's punchline. Snodson attempts to excuse a suspicious gap in his family records by claiming his ancestors survived Noah's biblical flood, implying impossibly ancient lineage. The satire mocks wealthy Americans of the Gilded Age who fabricated or exaggerated aristocratic ancestry to gain social legitimacy, a common pretension among the newly rich seeking to establish old-money credentials.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OLUME IX. NEW YORK, APRIL 28, 1887. Entered at New York Post Office as Second-Class Mail Matter. Copynght, 1887, by Mrrewett & Muar, pe D = A VERY OLD FAMILY. JSenkins, examining the pedigree tolllgh Snobson has Just had manufactured: So*THIS 18 YOUR FAMILY TREE, IS iT? AND WHAT 18 THAT BIS GAP IN THE MIDDLE? Snobson: THAT, ER—WELL, ER— OH, THAT IS THE FLOOD! comicbooks.com