Life, 1890-10-30 · page 1 of 14
Life — October 30, 1890 — page 1: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "A Wise Precaution" — Life Magazine, October 30, 1890 This cartoon satirizes social anxiety about introducing an unmarried woman to a soldier. The caption presents Colonel Gregory wanting to introduce Miss Uptown to "an old friend"—a soldier from the Himalayan Six Hundred regiment. Miss Uptown's worried response—"One of the Six Hundred! Oh, Colonel, hadn't I better see Mamma first?"—jokes about the woman's concern for propriety and protection of her reputation. The humor lies in the implication that meeting a soldier requires parental supervision, reflecting Victorian anxieties about unmarried women's interactions with men, particularly military men who might have questionable reputations or be considered unsuitable matches. The cartoon mocks both excessive propriety and the era's strict social conventions governing courtship.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 30, 1890. NUMBER 409. rl ” Entered at the New York Post Office as Second-Class Mail Matter. eS Copyright 1890, by Mrrewant & Mitre. eons AVE 1 we “it is h the Most itha | her eans cold J rose rk to her, eis s the and ticle the Swe A WISE PRECAUTION. Colonel Greytop: Miss Urrown, 1 WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE AN OLD FRIEND OF MINE— “A SOLDIER—ONE OF THE BALAKLAVA SIX HUNDRED, Miss Uptown: Oxt oF THE Six HUNDRED! Ont, CoLoneL, Haps'T 1 BETTER SEE MAMMA FIRST ? comicbooks.com