Life, 1890-02-13 · page 5 of 18
Life — February 13, 1890 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 89 **"The Difference" (1790 vs. 1890):** This comparative cartoon shows a century of social change. The 1790 image depicts a child playing outside a modest home. The 1890 image shows a well-dressed man (likely representing the same social position, now prosperous) on what appears to be an elegant street. The satire suggests that American society has grown wealthier and more refined over the century. **"Some Public Nuisances":** This section criticizes fashionable society women who monopolize opera boxes, disrupting performances through loud conversation and jewelry display rather than appreciating the art. **"The Hot-Water Cure":** A comic sketch mocking medical fads—specifically a doctor's recommendation to drink hot water before meals for health, which the patient has taken to absurd extremes. The page illustrates fin-de-siècle American social criticism through humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE DIFFERENCE. THE HOT-WATER CURE. Old Mr, Cumso: THE DOCTOR CERTAINLY TOLD ME TO DRINK HOT WATER ONE HOUR BEFORE MEALS, AND HERE I HAVE ONLY BEEN DRINKING FOR TWENTY MINUTES AND I'LL BE ETERNALLY ETCETERAED IF I CAN SWALLOW ANOTHER DROP. SOME PUBLIC NUISANCES. “HE general deportment of many of the Four Hundred affords an excellent illustration of what money can ac- complish when unfettered by good taste. The “fashion- ables” of this city are marching on with giant strides in their glorious mission of vulgarizing society, and the Metro- politan Opera House seems to be the place selected for their most efficient work. There is something almost pathetic in the complacency of those males and females who put them- selves on exhibition in the boxes, overladen with the costli- est jewelry, laughing and talking aloud, regardless of the comfort or the contempt of others. If representative ladies from Billingsgate were to occupy these boxes they would bear themselves with more consideration for the audience and the singers, and as this sort of thing is entirely a matter of breeding the problem becomes more and more complicated. The gulf seems widening day by day between the culti- vated American and the New York “fashionable.” A SOCIAL DISTINCTION. £© (ROSS his name off the list. “You are mistaken, “Oh, well, that's different. His father was a tailor.” His father was the clothier.” We'll ask him to come.” LERK (én auction room): Wake up! here. DRuNK: Wazzar mazzar? CLERK: When you nod you get the auctioneer all mixed up. You can't sleep comicbooks.com