Life, 1891-02-05 · page 7 of 16
Life — February 5, 1891 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 83 This page contains several distinct satirical elements: **"A Cutaway"** (top left): A humorous illustration of children escaping, likely commenting on childhood mischief or truancy. **"These Are Our Feelings"**: A New York Herald commentary critiquing the Astor and Goelet families (wealthy Opera House patrons) for requesting opera-goers avoid gossip during performances. The satire mocks their expectation of public silence while they benefit from public support, calling it hypocritical to demand civility without addressing their privileged status. **"A Little Confidence Game"** (center right): An illustrated scene depicting a romantic/domestic dispute, with dialogue about infidelity and trust. **Bottom dialogue**: A brief exchange (Primus/Secundus) joking that "New York" is a misnomer—it should be called "New Cork"—a pun on Irish immigration and cork/alcohol culture. The page blends social commentary on class privilege with domestic humor and ethnic jokes typical of early 20th-century American satire.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“a curaWay.” With songs, will he row her o'er The cool moon-whitened calm Unto the sheltered coves: O’erhung by blossoming groves Of the sea-girt isles of balm.” Droch. NEW BOOKS. MARRIED IN HASTE. By Mrs. Anna S. Stephens. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson and Brothers. Dreamy Hours. By Franklyn W. Lee. St. Paul: Sunshine Publishing Company. Business Pointers and Dictionary of Busi- nets Synonyms. By F.M. Payne. New York: Excelsior Publishing House. The Modern Regime. By Hippolyte Adolphe Taine, D.C.L, “Translated by John Durand. New York: Henry Holt and Company. THESE ARE OUR FEELINGS. HE New York Herald says: “The Astors and Goelets, who support the Opera House, were particularly charmed to find that notice in their boxes last week requesting them to abstain from gossip dur- ing the performance they practically pay for. From the public point of view the notice was, of course, most praiseworthy. But—well, how would you feel about it if you were Mrs. Astor ?” We should feel like crawling into a very small hole. We should also regret, and with some mortification, that we could not “practically pay for” a public benefit without insisting on the privilege of making ourselves a public nuisance, EV. KINDLEIGH : Such lovely weather as this is! ART MUSEUM TRUSTEE (sourly) : And on Sunday, too! ~ ee A LITTLE CONFIDENCE GAME. “ON, MABEL, TELL ME THE TRUTH, NOW; IF YOU WERE IN MY PLACE WOULD vou ACCEPT HIM?” Certainty, Why, tF I HAD BEEN IN YOUR PLACE MYSELF, THE OTHER NIGHT, WHEN HE PROPOSED TO Mt T WOULD HAVE ACCEPTED HIM RIML isn’t it? SECUNDUS: New York is an absurd name for this great metropoli: Yes; it ought to be called New Cork, if anything. comicbooks.com