Life, 1887-11-03 · page 9 of 20
Life — November 3, 1887 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "A Hint to the Mayor" This satirical cartoon critiques urban infrastructure problems in what appears to be early 20th-century New York City. The illustration shows a large crowd of well-dressed women clustered on a sidewalk, their voluminous skirts and elaborate hats creating obvious obstruction to foot traffic. The caption reads: "When it comes to sidewalk obstruction why is not upper Broadway a good field for reform?" The satire targets municipal authorities (the Mayor) for selectively enforcing regulations. The cartoon suggests that if city leaders genuinely cared about clearing sidewalk obstructions, they should address the real problem: fashionable women's clothing styles that consumed excessive public space. It's social commentary on both urban congestion and the absurdity of women's contemporary fashion.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
*> LIFE: Vigor, good cheer, human kindliness and unfailing hopeful- ness are the qualities which must saturate our ideal literature. The newspaper has become such a record of the seamy side of life, that we can only hope to counteract its realism with the other side, which is equally real and more inspiring. Droch. + NEW BOOKS + THE HUNDREDTH MAN. By Frank R. Stockton. New York: The Century C The Brownies: Their Book. By Palmer Cox, New York: The Century Co. The Longfellow Prose Birthday Book. Edited by Laura Winthrop Johnson, ‘Iifastrated. Boston? Tickaor & Co. The Gates Between. By Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. Boston: Houghton, Mifflia & Co. A Princess of Java, A Tale of the Far East. By S, J. Higginson. Boston: Houghton, Mild es, Just Dog. Puck's Library, No. 3. New York: Keppler & Schwarzmann, The Revolution in Tanner's Lane. By Mark Rutherford, Edited by Reuben Shapcott. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. A Vacation in a Buggy. By Maria Louise Pool. Putnam's Sons. Gulliver's Travels, By Jonathan Swift. Saintsbury, Iilustrated. New Yi Southern Sithowettes. Holt & Co. Major and Minor. A Novel. York: Henry Holt & Co. New York: G. P. Preparatory Memoir by George avols. New York: G. P, Putnam's Sons. By Jeannette H. orth. New York: Henry By W. E. Norris. In two volumes. New 247 By Alice Brown. Boston: Ticknor & Co. By Stephen: Collins Foster. Illustrated, Fools of Nature. A Novel. My Old. Kentucky Home. Bosion : ‘Ticknor & Co. Battles and Leaders ef the Civil War, Century Co, Jack Halt, ot the Schoo! Days of an American Boy. By Robert Grant. Miastrated by F.G. Attwood. Boston: Jordan, Marsh & Co. Part VI. New York: The PETRIFIED peanut-shell has been found in the upper gallery of the theatre at Pompeii. Gods have been gods in all ages! MR. GARRETT'S P4NTS. fy “Okos of the telegraph consolidation the Columbus Dispatch remarks, that although Mr. Robert Garrett has let considerable property slip through his fingers of late, his friends congratulate him upon one thing, and that is, that he has thus far succeeded in keeping his one hundred pairs of elegant trousers out of Gould's clutches. We are not so certain on this matter, Mr. Garrett clamored to a considerable extent about ‘‘ breeches of faith” during the first two or three days subsequent to the consum- mation. If there had been no grievance, there would have been no such wailing and gnashing of teeth. A HINT TO THE MAYOR. WHEN IT COMES TO SIDEWALK OBSTRUCTION WHY IS NOT UPPER BROADWAY A GOOD FIELD FOR REFORM? comicbooks.com