Life, 1889-05-09 · page 11 of 18
Life — May 9, 1889 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 275 **"The Solid Past"** (top cartoon): Shows a woman rejecting a suitor's proposal, claiming she's had "fun of accepting one" rather than refusing men. This satirizes changing gender dynamics—the joke targets a "full blown rose" (wealthy suitor) by inverting traditional courtship where women supposedly enjoyed refusing proposals. **"A Rhyming Reverie"** (poem by Tom Hall): A sentimental piece about a lady's glove triggering memories of romantic encounters—from Mount Desert to a rival suitor. It parodies overwrought Victorian romantic poetry. **"A Modern Cinderella"** (lower illustration): Captioned "An Idyl of the Slums," this darkly juxtaposes the Cinderella fairy tale with urban poverty, satirizing the romantic notion that poor women might experience magical transformation—clearly they won't.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE SOLID PAST. Full Blown Rose: WaT A PITY, DEAR, YOU ARE ENGAGED SO YOUNG. YOU WILL NEVER HAVE THE FUN OF REFUSING A MAN, Bud: No, BUT I'VE HAD THE FUN OF ACCEPTING ONE. A RHYMING REVERIE. T was a dainty lady's glove— A souvenir to rhyme with love. It was the memory of a kiss— So called to make it rhyme with bliss. There was a month at Mount Desert— Synonymous and rhymes with flirt. A pretty girl and lots of style— Which rhymes with ‘‘ Happy for a while.” There came a rival, old and bold— To make him rhyme with gold and sold. A broken heart there had to be— Alas! the rhyme just fitted me. Tom Hall, T doesn’t seem possible, but, nevertheless, it is a fact. We are referring to the present over-production of whisky in Kentucky. AN IDYL OF THE SLUMS, A MODERN CINDERELLA.