Life, 1889-05-23 · page 14 of 20
Life — May 23, 1889 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks European royalty's excuses for avoiding the 1889 Paris Exposition (which commemorated the French Revolution's centennial). The joke is that monarchs fear attending an event celebrating the overthrow of royal authority. The "replies" use exaggerated ethnic caricatures and mock-foreign accents: - **Queen Victoria** uses affected British dialect, citing domestic duties - **The Russian Czar** employs Russian-inflected English ("absenceovitch," "tailorvitch") - **The King of Italy** offers absurd excuses (potato-bug famine in South Africa) - **The German Emperor** misspells and mangles English, claiming his sick child needs tending The page's secondary cartoons employ class humor and puns unrelated to the main satire. The satire's core point: European monarchies were genuinely uncomfortable celebrating revolutionary ideals that threatened their power.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
306 ROYAL REGRETS. HE ladies and gentlemen engaged in the monarchy p oy TT SEY TR trade in Europe are not attending the Paris Exposition peal Be wor Berar Oren , P J & Gaane 17th, very numerously. It commemorates the opening of the q PW cor Wit Oona t MOR. States General one hundred years ago, and as that body pontytocnee uP 17 you wasn § - ; ie : : - Fo ontw TAL SUE He CON indulged in pernicious activity which the Kings and Queens 4 equation 1 16 2u F-30 do not approve, they consider that it would be in bad taste 7 : to visit the French capital now. A few replies to the invitations to be present are appended, From Queen Victoria: “1 cawn't come to your exhibition, doncher know. Thanks awfully for the invitation, but I really must look after Beatrice’s husband a little more closely, doncher know.” From the Czar of Russia: “1 regretoff my absenceovitch from your showoff, but am compelledoff to decline your invitationvitch you so kindly sent, because my new spring- steel suitoff has not come from the tailorvitch.” From the King of Italy: “Shall notta be able to be presenta. V sorra, but cyclona and potato-bug famina in South Africa have unsettled my nervesa, so that I cannot indulge in foreign travela.” From the Emperor of Germany: “Mein liddle poy von bat colt has, und I stay der heim at, to tend to dot poy, don’t “Say, Jim, THAT'S WHAT I CALLS THOUGHTFUL AND CoNsID- , 5 See ERATE. ‘THE FELLER WHAT WROTE THAT IS A BRICK AN’ A Wm, H. Siviter, Gixtvemast™ HE WAS NOT SUR- PRISED. ~QUIRE OATCAKE (reading the paper): I see that there are red ants at the White House. MRS. OATCAKE: Dear, dear! Red aunts! Mr. Har- rison has a great many rela- tives, but I didn’t know there s injuns among ‘em. THE FINAL GOAL. HE REV. DR. HIGH- CHURCH: James, do you know where good little boys go to when they grow up? SMALL JAMES BROWN- STONE: Yes, sir. They get in the 400. A JERY interesting sight is to watch a minister * try to open a car window. The dramatic effect comes He: MY RUBBERS, from what he doesn’t say. HER FIRST SPRING IN NEW JERSEY. She: Gooo GRactous! GFORGCE, WHAT IS ALL THAT? comicbooks.com