Life, 1891-05-14 · page 7 of 14
Life — May 14, 1891 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 303 This page contains three distinct satirical pieces mocking American social pretensions and immigration attitudes: **"Advice"** depicts a wealthy woman counseling a working-class man to maintain dignity despite hardship—advice she herself wouldn't follow, suggesting class hypocrisy. **"Limit: $2"** jokes about a man losing money at gambling, a common vice satirized in period humor. **"Disqualified"** presents a father telling his immigrant son he cannot become President or policeman because he was "born in this country"—a deliberate absurdist joke inverting naturalization requirements. The final exchange mocks nouveau-riche social climbing, where a woman boasts her family has lived in New York only ten years, suggesting recent wealth and questionable social standing. The cartoons collectively lampoon class anxiety, immigrant exclusion, and social aspiration in early 20th-century America.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Fae Sang Ay) ADVICE. He: Ya-as, LAM WEALLY TIRED OF MAH AIMLESS, FWIVOLOUS LIFE. IF ONLY SOME OPPAWTUNITY, NOW, WOULD PWESENT ITSELF PAW ME TO ASSIST THOSE IN DISTWESS, I SHOULD BE POSITIVELY CHAWMED, She: Way von'T vou join THE KinG's DAUGHTERS ? LIMIT: $2. E started in with many a chip, Of whites—a dollar—reds for twos. Alas! From him each one did slip, And now he has a case of blues. DISQUALIFIED. OHNNY: Pa, when I become a man, could | be elected J President of the United States ? FATHER: Certainly, my boy; you were born in this country. JOHNNY: And could 1 be a policeman if 1 wanted to ? FATHER: Why, no. You were born in this country. E: Do the De Courtney’s know many people in New York ? SHE: Oh, dear, no, Why, they have lived here only ten years, comicbooks.com