Life, 1889-11-14 · page 7 of 16
Life — November 14, 1889 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 273 **"His First-Born" Cartoon:** This satirical scene depicts a doctor's visit to examine a newborn infant. The young father anxiously asks if the child "belongs to one of the 400"—a reference to New York's social elite (the approximately 400 families considered acceptable by high society). The doctor's response—"There's very little expression in his face"—is the joke's punchline, suggesting the baby lacks the distinctive features of aristocratic breeding. The satire mocks upper-class anxiety about genealogy and social status, implying that even infants must be evaluated by their pedigree rather than their humanity. This reflects late 19th-century American class consciousness and satirizes the pretensions of wealthy New Yorkers obsessed with maintaining exclusive social hierarchies.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HIS FIRST-BORN. Young Father: By Jove! He's A QUEER-LOOKING DUFFER. WOULDN'T SUS! The Doctor: VM NOT SO SURE OF THAT; THERE'S VERY LITTLE EXPRESSION IN HIS FAC NEW BOOKS. THE LAST ASSEMBLY BALL. By Mary Hallock Foote. Boston and New York: Houghton, Miftia & Company, Backgammon and Draughts, New York : Frederick A. Stokes & Brother. Cycling Art, Energy, and. Locomotion. By Robert P. Scott. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Compan: . Sforza. X& Story of Milan. By William Waldorf Astor. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. , To the Lions. By the Rev. Alfred J. Church, M.A. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Gerald Efrench's Friends." By George H. Jessop. New York : Longmans, Green & Company. A Family Tree. By Brander Matthews, New York: Longmans, Green & Company. St. Nicholas for 188, Two Bound Volumes. New York: The Century Company. The Century Magazine. Volume XXXVII. New York: The Century Company. wicksands. By J. J. Fleetwood. New York: The Minerva Publishing Company, Between Times. Poems, By Walter A, Learned. New York * Frederick A. Stokes & Krother. HAVE here an article on ‘How To Manage q 2 a Wife,’” remarked a man, as he advanced to A SOLEMN MOMENT. jitor’s “IGNorep! NOT SO MUCH AS A PASSING GLANCE BY WAY OF RECOG- the editor's desk. . ‘ os . ™ NITION, I SEE HOW IT IS—THE ICE CREAM SEASON IS OVER AND SHE “You are unmarried, I believe,” replied the editor. HAS NO FURTHER USE FOR ME, (Uncovering.) HEAR ME, YEGODS! FRom “Ves, why?" THIS TIME FORTH NO FURTHER USE HAVE I FOR WOMAN'S SMILES AND “CBE PROTESTATIONS, I SHALL IGNORE THE ENTIRE SEX, AND ALTHOUGH THEY MAY PLEAD, THE HEART OP KOTZEBUE DUFFY WILL REMAIN ADAMANT!” “ss