Life, 1888-11-29 · page 1 of 14
Life — November 29, 1888 — page 1: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "In Shallow Waters" - Life Magazine, November 29, 1888 This satirical cartoon depicts a romantic scene between a well-dressed man and woman in an intimate moment. The title "In Shallow Waters" is a double entendre—literally suggesting shallow water, but figuratively implying emotional or moral shallowness. The dialogue reveals the joke: the woman insists on showing the man her new clock before he leaves, claiming some friends say she's "homely enough to stop a clock." The man responds that this won't matter because "it can be started again." The satire targets vanity and shallow courtship rituals of the era. The woman's concern about her appearance and the man's dismissive flattery mock both Victorian courtship conventions and the superficiality of romantic interactions based on appearance rather than substance.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
_ ff VOLUME XII. NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 209, 1888. NUMBER 309. Entered at the New York Post Office as Second-Class Mail Matter. Copyright, 1888, by Mrrcnmun & Mra. CO. der ing IN SHALLOW WATERS. She: 1 must sHow you MY NEW CLOCK BEFORE You co. He (Sacetiously): SOME OF MY FRIENDS TELL ME I AM HOMELY ENOUGH TO STOP A CLOCK, She: OW, THAT WON'T MATTER! IT CAN BE STARTED AGAIN, comicbooks.com