Life, 1889-11-07 · page 12 of 16
Life — November 7, 1889 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page Analysis This page contains satirical commentary on contemporary issues around 1880s-90s America. **"A Temporary Union"** mocks actor-actress marriages as inherently unstable. The managing editor jokes that "mated for life" is inappropriate language for performers, implying their unions are circus acts rather than genuine commitments—a jab at theatrical culture and marital frivolity among entertainers. **"Two Questions"** criticizes New York elites' opposition to a fair (likely the World's Fair) in Central Park, suggesting only the "rag-tag and bobtail" would object—sarcastic reversal implying the wealthy actually oppose it for snobbish reasons. **"A Heart's Trial"** depicts a working-class domestic drama where a desperate man abandons his wife and savings, illustrated with period-typical melodrama. The page also includes a romantic poem "A Dream" about cupid and love, contrasting with the satirical domestic content above. Overall, the page targets theatrical pretension, class hypocrisy, and domestic hardship through sharp wit and illustration.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
*LIFE: A TEMPORARY UNION. ANAGING EDITOR: This won't do, Mr. Dixon, In this wedding notice you use the words “ Mated for life.” REPORTER: Isn't that expression customary, sir? MANAGING Ep:Tor: But in this case the parties are an actor and actress. \, E do not go so far as to charge that a ies) 8 8 \ he ring exists, but there are indications that YY there is a good deal of a circus going on in Mr. \ \p Harrison's Cabinet. AMES G. BLAINE has the ruling spirit strong in life. TWO QUESTIONS. OW many citizens of New York are there who would prefer seeing the Fair in the bottom of the Auantic Ocean rather than in Central Park ? Are they the rag-tag and bobtail who feel this way, or are they of the better class of men, who have a serious interest in the city and its welfare ? T was a butcher who remarked that fore quarters were than the whole. A SHEART'S TRIAL, Asnaurton O'Doxonu I aM TOLD You HA AND MY FREN'S WI T POOR, T ISIN VAIN YOU PLEAD. RE YOUR’ SAVINGS BA‘ T aM SORRY YER WU7Z AND GO—LEAVE ME! (He does so to the slow music of a barrel organ played outside) I NEVER KIN EVEN DOLLARS AND A HALF IN THE AY I MARRIED YER FER YER M FOR THEN—— UT NO MATTER — ‘THE MOUND BUILDERS OF THE NINET! THEIR PROBARLE RESTORATION IN THE TWENTY-NINTH, A DREAM. ONCE did dream, in summer hours, ‘That I was busy gathering flowers. Moss roses were among the heap, In one of which, quite fast asleep, I found the god of love himself, And gently picking up the elf I drowned him in a glass of wine, Then toasted those bright eyes of thine. Did he die ? Oh, no, not be, For still he lives, and, wild with glee, Enjoys those moments when we part, His wings quick fluttering ‘gainst my heart.