Life, 1892-03-03 · page 9 of 14
Life — March 3, 1892 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 135 This page contains a satirical story titled "A New Style in Bridles" accompanying two illustrations. The narrative mocks a wealthy nobleman who blindfolds his horse with leather slabs to hide its scarred eyes after a servant's violent attack. The satirical point appears to be **social hypocrisy**: the nobleman can afford expensive repairs (gold pieces, silver crest) but chooses instead to merely conceal the animal's injuries rather than genuinely remedy them. The cartoon critiques upper-class vanity and superficiality—prioritizing appearance over substance or genuine care. The accompanying illustration labeled "The Coachman Informs the Widow of Her Golden Opportunity" continues this theme of deception and material self-interest among the wealthy. The final section "Explicit Directions" shifts to a humorous vignette about finding an address, typical of Life's miscellaneous satirical content.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE: ing down the road that led to the Baptist temple. This of course was no fault of the horse, but it hap- pened to annoy the nobleman, who poured forth a torrent of oaths and slashed him so fiercely over the head that he destroyed the sight of one eye. An in- flammation set in which affected both eyes, and the gray horse became hopelessly blind. The Pious Noble- man, being a tender-hearted man, was sorry for this, as it lessened the value of the animal and the eyes were unpleasant to look at. He also remembered the thousand gold pieces. But on the following Sunday, while attending ser- vice at the Episcopal chapel, he was struck by a clever idea which he at once carried out. Two leather slabs were so constructed, one on each side of the bridle, as to cover the horse’s eyes. They were not very pretty to look at, and of course were unpleasant to wear; A NOW STYLE IN BRIDLES, but with the addition of his crest and initials in silver, they passed for a new style in harness, and at once became the fashion. He heard, about this time, that a neighboring widow wished to purchase a horse. So one morning while in an orthodox frame of mind he interviewed her coachman, and, placing fifty gold pieces in his hand, said: “Fifty more shall come to you if your mistress buys the gray horse.” The next morning, after a short prayer before an expensive altar in the Catholic cathedral, he drove the gray Ae SA Ze THE COACHMAN INYORMS THE WIDOW OF HER GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY. charger to the widow's mansion, and when he returned the unsuspecting lady retained the horse, and the Enthusiastic Christian had fifteen hundred gold pieces in his pocket. He realized with a grateful spirit his instrumentality in enabling an unprotected widow to possess that priceless knowledge which is only acquired by experience. * . . . . . . This Pious Nobleman has been dead for many years; but if you should ever visit that extraordinary country, you will find they still blind their horses with pieces of leather, no matter how good their eyes are. J. A. Mitchell. EXPLICIT DIRECTIONS. OUNG TUTTER (who has been invited to call): 1 hope I won't have any difficulty in finding your house, Miss Callow Miss CaLLOWAY: Oh, no; I don't think you will, Mr. Tutter. You can tell the house in this way: Just before you get to it, on the first corner, is a florist’s establishment ~ Comicbooks.com