Life, 1889-04-18 · page 5 of 21
Life — April 18, 1889 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 225 This page contains two distinct satirical pieces: **"The Wave of Culture"** (top right): Shows a man distributing sheet music to children in a street scene. The caption mocks contemporary cultural pretensions—a character complains that children now want only "popular songs" and Wagner, suggesting absurd class anxieties about working-class musical taste corrupting youth. **"The Return Editor"** (main article): A prose satire about magazine editors who reject submitted manuscripts. The piece humorously describes editors as gatekeepers of literary immortality, detailing their rejection methods. A sample rejection letter from "John James Mechan" (the editor) politely dismisses a poorly-written submission, illustrating the genteel rejection conventions of the era. Both pieces satirize contemporary cultural anxieties and publishing world pretensions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WAVE OF CULTURE. Girt? On, No! Tuts 1s OUR FRIEND CHOLLY, HE SAYS THOSE LONG COATS DANGLING ON BROAD TROUSERS IMPEDE, ONE'S MOVEMENTS, 50 HE Has SNOW IF YER CAN'T GIVE HER A CENT'S WORTH OF WAGNER? “PLEASE, SIR, WE DON'T WANT NO MORE POPULAR SONGS; MOTHER 'D LIKE TER ORDERED HIS TAILOR TO INSERT SOME WIRE REEDS BEHIND TO FREE ONE GARMENT FROM THE OTHER, THE RETURN EDITOR, = of the curiosities of monthly literature is the editor who reads and rejects manuscripts. He is usually a man of profound knowledge, deep sympathetic feeling, and other literary attributes. His salary and per- quisites are large, for on him devolves the duty of selecting articles for a magazine that is made up three years in advance. Personal feeling does not sway his judgment, otherwise the number of persistent literary attempts would be smaller, His literary style makes up in force and clearness what it lacks in deli- cacy and refinement. He is a guardian of the immortals, and an obscurer of reputations. He has different ways of allaying the sting of rejection. In many cases contributions are received with thanks, and declined in the same manner. He often requests that the absence of criticism be excused, and usually ob- tains his request. During a long, unclouded literary career, the writer has received the manuscript of several articles, which, from their originality, or some other inexplicable cause, could not be used. The letters accompany- ing these returns, stripped of verbiage, would equal, in substance, the fol- lowing note: Dear Six :—Enclosures returned. Your article is tersely written, and the postage stamps are good. The return of a manuscript does not necessarily imply a lack of literary merit. Thanking you for your contribution, I am, Very truly yours, Tur Epitor. Tits 1s CHOLLY CROSSING A STREET. John James Mechan. Comichbooks.Gelu)