Life — May 31, 1888 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Litera Chance" This cartoon depicts a child peering through an ornate garden gate at a toy train on the path outside. The title "Litera Chance" (likely "Literature Chance") and caption "Is Your Gentleman Fellow Outside?" suggest social satire about class boundaries. The elaborate, decorative gate symbolizes the barriers separating privileged children from common experiences. The toy train represents accessible pleasures or opportunities that exist just beyond the gate. The contrast between the ornate enclosure and the simple toy outside implies criticism of overprotective upper-class parenting or artificial social constraints that limit children's experiences. The satire appears to mock the pretentiousness of gated privilege while suggesting that genuine childhood pleasures lie in simpler, unrestricted access to the world.