Life, 1889-12-19 · page 12 of 18
Life — December 19, 1889 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis for Modern Readers This page contains three satirical pieces from *Life* magazine: **1. The "Apollo" Controversy (top):** Ohio Normal University faced public outrage over an nude classical statue. The university's defensive response claims the statue arrived in 1885 and was immediately covered with a "satin sash"—a detail Life ridicules as absurdly prudish. The satire mocks Ohio's alleged cultural anxiety about classical art and the notion that draping fabric somehow resolves moral objections to nudity. **2. "Life vs. Mail and Express" (middle):** Life sarcastically "yields" its claim as the funniest publication to the *New York Mail and Express*, mocking that newspaper's overwrought sermon editorial that connects proper dress and consumer goods (Knox hats) to spiritual contentment—mixing religion with commercialism. **3. Two domestic cartoons (bottom):** Brief comedic sketches about working-class life: a large woman refusing help from a small man, and a wife testing her husband's reaction to her new novel's dialogue about marital discord. The page satirizes Victorian prudishness, commercial hypocrisy, and social pretension.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-LIFE: & HE cultivated people of the State of Ohio have been stirred to indignation by the report that in the Ohio Normal University there is an “ Apollo” in the same condition that it came from the sculp- tor's hands, The following extracts from the Ohio State Journal show the falsity of the rumor and will enable Ohio culture to settle back into its ordinary state of xsthetic calmness: * The statements made in regard to the piece of statuary, ‘ Apollo,’ are wholly false, as many of our students now engaged in your city as lawyers, doctors, teachers, ete., can testify. The statuary was procured in Germany and placed in the hall of the Franklin Literary Society in the summer of 1885, and did not at that time, or any time since, create any sensation or unpleasant com- ment. It came just as all statuary does, and no one was so ignorant as to expect it otherwise or to be surprised, It was unpacked at Wagner Brothers’ book store by the committee having it in charge, and all occasion for unpleasant comment was re- moved bya satin sash being tastefully draped around tt before it was placed in the hall, Thus it has stood ever since and is admired by all, being an elegant piece of work and speaks well for the enterprise of the society which placed it there. For four years ‘Apollo’ has been the pride of the Franklin Literary Society instead of causing a stampede among the members.” It was suggested that the “ Apollo” might be improved by the addition of knee-breeches and silk stockings, but the satin sash was hit upon as being really more satisfactory to the asthetic longings of the Ohio mind. aN \ OME kindly-disposed persons have been good enough to award to Lire the first place among the world's humorous publica- But Lire is also honest and desires no honors unmerited. Therefore it abdicates and gracefully yields the high position to the New York A/a and Express. The immediate cause of this step is the pe- rusal of the following leading editorial from that pious journal: tions, “The sermons on Sunday bristled with thought and suggestion, and those Page: IT's A LONG WAY UP, MUM. SHAN'T I GIVE YoU A LIFT? Lady (of imposing proportions): You! Lirt Me? who attended had the consciousness of an hour well spent. This same satisfied feeling must have gone with them as they walked to their homes, especially if they had given equal thought to their dress that the minister had to his sermon, Perfect-fitting clothes, fashionable furnishings and a graceful Knox hat will bring contentment to the mind of any man and cause pleasure to the eye of those who behold him as he Femate : you, 1 Lot Husband: W-W-a-T1 ——11#@ 122208 @ 2. ? Female Novelist: CaLM YOURSELF, DEAR, CALM YOUR- SELF; THAT IS ONLY WHAT MY NEW HEROINE SAYS TO HER HUSBAND, AND 1 WANTED TO SEE HOW THE HUSBAND WOULD ACT.