Life, 1890-07-24 · page 11 of 16
Life — July 24, 1890 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page 39 from Life Magazine Analysis This page contains three separate satirical items: 1. **"Horticulture in the City"** (top left): A man proposes leaving a window open to give an orange tree "some air," mocking urban attempts at gardening in cramped city conditions. 2. **"The Subsequent Procession"** (bottom left): Shows what appears to be a funeral or formal procession, likely satirizing social pretension around formal rituals. 3. **Beach scene** (right): Depicts people at the seaside. The dialogue suggests romantic or social awkwardness—a man asks if a woman read his poem, she says she began it, he interrupts, she denies it. This satirizes earnest romantic gestures (poetry) and the gap between intention and reception. 4. **"What is the Use?"** and **"It Didn't Work"**: Poems and dialogue about failed romantic efforts, mocking sentimental courtship traditions. The overall theme: urban life, failed romance, and social pretension.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HORTICULTURE IN THE CITY. Mr. Morris: Vo Twink Vit PAVE THE WINDOW OPEN THIS SE TREE SOME AIR, He: Dip You READ MY POEM LAST NIGHT ? She: 1 MEGAN IT. He: INTERRUPTED, I sUPPOsE ? She: No. WHAT IS THE USE? HAT is the use of repeating I love her, What of proclaiming her pretty, and then What of declaring there's no maid above her, Singing her praises again and again? What is the use of my sending her sonnets, Letting my fervor poetic run loose, (Doubtless she'd rather have bon-bons and bonnets), Since she said ‘tyes to me, what is the use? —Nathan M. Levy. IT DION'T WORK. ~HE: How beautifully she sings. HE: Yes. Reminds me of Patti. SHE (eagerly): Oh, tell me, have you heard Patti? THE SUBSEQUENT PROCESSION. HE: N-no, comicbooks.com