Life, 1889-02-07 · page 11 of 16
Life — February 7, 1889 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Workings of Time" This cartoon satirizes how marriage changes over time. Two gossiping neighbors observe a young couple celebrating their first wedding anniversary. The wife waits anxiously each evening for her husband's return home—she still cares deeply about his presence. The joke's punchline reveals the bitter reality of long marriage: Mrs. B. reveals that *she and her husband* have been married so long that his wife wouldn't bother waiting for him at all, much less all night. The satire mocks how marital affection and attentiveness supposedly deteriorate with years of marriage, transforming devoted newlyweds into indifferent, negligent spouses. The page also includes unrelated humor pieces—a drunken French dragoon's failed horse-mounting and moral aphorisms—typical of Life's miscellaneous satirical content. These attack human folly and hypocrisy in domestic life and social conduct.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WORKINGS OF TIME. Mrs, B.: THAT COUPLE ACROSS THE STREET ARE GOING TO CELEBRATE THE ANNIVERSARY OF THEIR WEDDING. I WONDER HOW LONG THEY HAVE BEEN MARRIED, Mfr, Bo: THIS MUST BE THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY, BECAUSE I NOTICE THAT SHE SITS AT THE WINDOW EVERY EVENING AND WAITS FOR HIM TO COME HOME. Mrs, B.: Uf THEY HAD BEEN MARRIED AS LONG AS WE HAVE, THE POOR THING WOULD HAVE TO WAIT FOR MIM ALL NIGHT, FROM THE FRENCH. DRAGOON, slightly drunk, was vainly trying to mount his horse, calling loudly on the saints: “Saint John, help me! Saint Peter, assist me! Saint Paul, come to my aid!" By a mighty effort he jumps clear over his horse, then, turning around: “Gently, gently, my friends,” says he, ‘not all at once!" A POINTED MORAL, E should never complain, whatever may befall us,” said the minister. ‘The moment we grow dis- satisfied we become unhappy.” Bibi ee lchiaet ote wie ie sine ae ae ime mak first woman who , the Catskills: Time, the present: Hovr, 10 A.M. eS returmed the good many, tae 7 He (with @ slight shiver): SMALL WE RETURN TO THE HOTEL complained of her Lot was turned into a pillar of salt. now, Birpy ? She: On, NO, ALGERNON, I LIKE THE SOLITUDE OF THIS SPOT so MUCH. US SIT HERE UNTIL DUSK AND THEN SLOWLY THE Lapy of Lvons—The Lioness. MEANDER BACK TO THE HOTEL IT’S ONLY A Five ines a! DIT ye ‘ US AN APPETITE TIME Ful Minute insects. (And as the snow kept falling, falling, falling, Algernon muttered : pmithing very machines ee ae HEIR O1L—Castor oil. comicbooks.com