Life — May 26, 1887 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "No Gentleman" - Life Magazine, May 20, 1887 This cartoon satirizes maritime etiquette and class pretension. A well-dressed traveler aboard a ship addresses the captain, complaining that he's been a passenger on this line many times and this is "the fawst occasion" (fastest occasion) on which he's been "insulted by a fellow-passenger." The joke hinges on the captain's response: "Yes, sir; can I do anything for you?" The traveler considers the captain's polite offer itself an insult—the implication being that only a captain would dare address him, and that being served by anyone of lower social standing constitutes an affront to his gentlemanly dignity. The satire mocks Victorian-era class consciousness and the absurd sensitivities of the wealthy about their social standing.