Life, 1887-10-27 · page 11 of 16
Life — October 27, 1887 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# The Grasshopper and the Anti-Poverty Agitator This cartoon satirizes anti-poverty activists and reformers of the era. A grasshopper (representing an impoverished farmer facing crop failure) is lectured by an "Anti-Poverty Agitator" who claims he became wealthy not through honest labor, but by starting an "anti-poverty boom"—suggesting he profited by *talking about* poverty rather than solving it. The joke targets the perceived hypocrisy of anti-poverty crusaders: while the farmer actually worked hard farming, the agitator got rich promoting anti-poverty causes themselves. It's a critique of reformers who seemingly exploited social causes for personal gain, a common satirical theme in Gilded Age *Life* magazine.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE ANTI. Anti-Poverty Agitator (to Grasshopper): IF INSTEAD OF WASTING TIME IN TOILING ON YOUR FARM ALL SUMMER YOU HAD STARTED AN ANTI-POVERTY BOOM, AS I DID, YOU WOULD HAVE LAID UP ENOUGH TO LIVE ON FOR THE REST OF YOUR DAYS, INSTEAD OF STARVING THIS WINTER THROUGH THE FAILURE OF YOUR CROPS, 235 LITERARY NOTES. W E do not credit the asser- tion that Mr. Harold Frederic is to follow up his novel, “Seth's Brother's Wife,” with a romance of “John’s Cousin’s Aunt’s Friend's Sister- in-law." Mr. E. P. Roe might do this, but Mr. Frederic is too young, in a literary sense, to. play with such ponderous titles, . * ° ENERAL FRANCIS A. WALKER, of Massa- chusetts, is to have an essay in the coming Scrréner’s entitled “What shall we tell the Work- ing-classes?”” So enlightened a gentleman as General Walker should know better than to draw a distinction between a supposititious “ we” and “working-classes.” There is but one working-class in this country, and with the exception of a few dudes and lunatics we all belong to it. . . . “cc OOLS OF NATURE” is the title of a novel by Miss Alice Brown. Considering the number of these creatures it is not surprising to find the volume a thick one. . . . NEW contemporary is the Curso. It is devoted largely to Books, Coins and Pedigrees. It hardly seems necessary to devote much space to pedigrees. If one has coins, pedigrees be- come an unnecessary luxury. . . * OME mean spirited Ameri- can sent a copy of Mr. John Vance Cheney's book of poems, “ Thistle-Drift,” to Mr. Bell the day he and Mr. Watson sailed for home. AN ABSURD RUMOR. HE 7ribune, one morning last week, characterized the rumor that Mr. Sharp was very ill as absurd. We are glad to see an esteemed morning contemporary taking this matter by the throat— metaphorically speaking. We have had enough of such miserable reports. The idea of a man of Sharp's wealth and influence getting sick or at the point of death, is absolutely ridiculous. It is very true that in that department in the universe where such things are regulated, neither moth nor rust can corrupt, but it must be remembered that Jacob comes under neither of these heads. comicbooks.com