Life, 1890-12-04 · page 12 of 14
Life — December 4, 1890 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Political Satire from Life Magazine **"Cordial and Affable, But Arithmetical":** Prof. Todhunter encounters Mrs. Goldwin at a reception. He flatters her by saying time has treated her well, then commits the social gaffe of mentioning her daughter Prudence is twenty years old—and that he remembers Prudence as a sixteen-year-old girl only ten years ago. The math doesn't add up, implying Mrs. Goldwin has lied about her age or her daughter's age. The satire mocks both the professor's tactless arithmetic and the social pretense of concealing women's ages. **"A Nice Boy":** A poem about a boy whom the speaker escorts everywhere—but reveals the real motivation: doing it for the boy's sister. Social commentary on romantic interest masked by familial duty. **John Ruskin reference:** A barb at the Republican party, calling it "ruins in America"—political mockery suggesting the party is in decay or disrepair.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
326 POPULAR SUBJECTS. CORDIAL AND AFFABLE, BUT ARITHMETICAL. SUM DAZE Prof. Todhunter (soho has just run across an old acquaintance at the reception) > VAS SO GLAD TO HAVE STUMBLED UPON YOU IN THIS Way, MY DEAK Mas GoLDWIX, HOW LONG IT HAS HREN SINCE WE MET! BUT, [MUST SAY, TIME HAS DEALT VERY LIGHTLY WITH you. WHO COULD IMAGINE THAT YOU HAVE & DAUGHTER AS OLD AS MISS PRUDENCE, THERE AND LITTLE PRUESWELL, JUST THINK OF Aer WEING LN society ! Mrs, Goldwin: Vs, Di, Tommustex: [CANT REALIZE THESE THINGS AISELES PRUDENCE Is TWENTY TO-DAY, Prof. Todhunter : Wu, SW DEAK MRS, GOLDWIX, YOU DON'T TELL ME SOL AND ONLY TEN SHORT YEARS AGO [REMEMBER HER SO WELI AS A KOMPING LITTLE CHIT OF SIXTEEN ED WeLt, WELL, How MARVELOUSLY THESE GIRLS DO GROW ! A NICE BOY. H :'S really the nicest boy I know, So L take him along wherever [ yo: To circus, theater, base-ball game And anything else that a boy could name, His every is my command And all that he wants is right at hand But—this confession | have to make—- Ido it all for his sister's sake. OHN RUSKIN says that there are no J ruins in America. With a view to amending this opinion, we respectfully invite him to come over and take a look at the APTRR THE ALS Republican party. GREEN OLD AGE. comicbooks.com