Life, 1888-10-25 · page 1 of 14
Life — October 25, 1888 — page 1: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This page from *Life* magazine (October 25, 1888) contains a single cartoon titled "Putting It Delicately." The image shows two men in conversation on a country road. The caption below presents dialogue: a father is explaining to another man that in marrying his daughter, "you marry a large-hearted, generous girl" and hopes the son-in-law will inherit those qualities "from her father." The satire appears to center on the awkward, indirect way the father is communicating—"putting it delicately"—what seems to be either a compliment about his daughter's character or possibly a veiled reference to her dowry or financial expectations. The humor lies in the strained formality and circumlocution of Victorian courtship negotiations and family discussions about marriage arrangements. The cartoon mocks the era's stilted social conventions around such matters.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
— VOLUME XII. NEW YORK, OCTOBER 235, 1888. NUMBER 304. Entered at the New York Post Office as Second-Class Mail Matter, Copyright, 1888, by Mrrcwmit & Musa, prchicanys gy Svm. ign Or- t of and aid the ea- row de- » be for ere nch D., eet. PUTTING IT DELICATELY. “1 HOPE YOU APPRECIATE THE FACT, SIR, THAT IN MARRYING MY DAUGHTER YOU MARRY A LARGE-HEARTED, GENEROUS GIRL,” 2 “1 DO, SIR (with emotion); AND I HOPE SHE INHERITS THOSE QUALITIES FROM HER FATHER.” comicbooks.com