Life, 1887-09-08 · page 9 of 16
Life — September 8, 1887 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page This page features a romantic cartoon by Albert E. Sterner depicting a couple in a small boat on a beach. The illustration uses flowing, Art Nouveau-style lines to frame the scene. The dialogue shows a man (identified as "Nelly, the jade") asking why she loves him. Her response satirizes gold-digging relationships: she loves him primarily "because you're rich." The poem emphasizes the mercenary nature of her affection despite romantic language about his "warm cheek" and "happy waves." The satire targets wealthy men who naively believe women's romantic declarations, when financial security is actually the primary attraction. This reflects early 20th-century social commentary on marriage and class disparities, where wealth determined romantic desirability.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HY do I love you ?” said Nelly, the jade— (Her warm cheek flushed like an August peach, And she laughed with the happy waves that made A mellow music along the beach). “Tove you,” she sighed with a sudden fall Of lashes that set my heart a-twitch— “+ For many reasons, but most of all, Clove you, sweetheart, because you're rich 4 MEW. Alutt € Ferner - 4 comicbooks.com