Life, 1890-04-03 · page 5 of 14
Life — April 3, 1890 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Political Satire from Life Magazine, March Issue This page satirizes German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's resignation and succession. The large caricatured head at top represents Bismarck; the oversized boots labeled "Bizzy's Boots" reference his political dominance being difficult to fill. The central text mocks Cardinal Wolsey's farewell speech, comparing Bismarck's successor (likely Kaiser Wilhelm II) to someone inheriting impossible shoes. Side cartoons reference contemporary events: Buffalo Bill's Rome visit, Chicago's World's Fair (with a jab about the city's "graceful performance"), and Senator Blair's education bill proposal. The bottom panel shows St. Patrick's Day revelry. The satire criticizes the challenge of replacing Bismarck's iron-fisted leadership while poking fun at various American and international figures and events of the period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HIS SUCCESSOR MARCH. pe BISMARCK! Hecan now probably appreciate Mr. Cardinal Wolsey's appro- priate remarks beginning: ‘Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness,” especially that passage which reads * How wretched is that poor man that hangs on princes’ favors.” But poor man that has been appointed to try to fill Bismarck's shoes. >ENATOR BLAIR has talked his own edu- cational bill to death, and if the tradition about the cruelty of talking to death be true, we are very sorry for the bill. HE Pope may get an idea of American civilization from Buffalo Bill's visit to the Eternal City. Of course it is an erroneous idea, but it may have the good effect of deterring the removal of the Vatican to the United States. N the Chicago vernacular, so far as the World's Fair is concerned, that city has got there with all four feet. If what certain para- graphers say about Chicago feet be true, this l' the most serious thing that has yet happened to the World's Fair. poor Bismarck is not half so wretched as that |“ KAISER AN EARTH-QUAKE WITH A BVI. ST PATHRICK'S DAY IN THE MARNING. comicbooks.com