Life, 1887-06-16 · page 3 of 16
Life — June 16, 1887 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "A Good Memory" - Analysis **The Cartoon:** The top illustration shows a social encounter where a well-dressed man and woman meet at what appears to be a formal gathering. The woman says she finds his face "strangely familiar," and he responds that their host introduced them just before dinner. The woman insists she never forgets a face, implying they've met elsewhere. **The Satire:** This is a gentle social comedy about the awkwardness of encountering someone in a new context. It plays on the common embarrassment of not remembering where you know someone from, or the inverse—pretending familiarity when none exists. The humor lies in the uncomfortable social dynamics of upper-class gatherings and the politeness required to navigate uncertain acquaintance. **Cultural Context:** This reflects Victorian-era anxieties about social propriety and the performative nature of formal society.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A GOOD MEMORY. “Excuse ME, Stk, BUT HAVEN'T WE MET BEFORE? YOUR FACE IS STRANGELY FAMILIAR.” “Yes, MADAME, OUR HOST INTRODUCED US TO EACH OTHER JUST REFORE DINNER.” “AH, I was PosITIVE I HAD SEEN YOU SOMEWHERE. I NEVER FORGET A FACE.” WHO? WHAT? WHICH? WHERE ? HEN the young débutante gets sight of a beau, She scarcely can peep thro’ the leaves of her fan, Her heart doth so flutter, her cheeks do so glow, As she asks all a-trembling : ‘‘ Who is the man?” Twenty doth bring her to years of discretion, No longer she blushes, but changes her plan ; With thoughts of the pocket, the place, the profession, She questions the circle with : ‘‘ What is the man?” At thirty, each day the thought doth appal her, That hour by hour her roses grow wan ; Her circle of lovers grow smaller and smaller— She duns each deceiver with: ‘‘ Which is the man?” Forty changes her tune, and grown romantic, Deems it charming to simper as much as she can ; Haunts watering-places, streams the Atlantic, For the query of life now is : ‘ Where is the man?” T is announced that a new racehorse is to be called “ Waterbury,” because it makes the fastest time on record. OME of the profits made by Jay Gould last year are quite ahead of anything mentioned in sacred history. CAPILLARY. A® Albany barber says the indiscriminate use of brushes in barber-shops is what makes people bald, and says it is because women keep out of barber-shops and have pri- | vate brushes that they keep their hair. But someone said a | little while ago that it was tight hats that made men bald, and proved it by pointing to the women and their bonnets. Both are wrong. Women's heads are covered, partly because their capillary energies are not diverted to beards, and partly for the reason that they are less exposed than men are to the inclemency of the weather. And another reason is, they say, that they are less scrupulous than the sterner sex about | growing their hair on their own heads. comicbooks.com