Life, 1892-04-21 · page 3 of 18
Life — April 21, 1892 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Settled at Last" - Life Magazine Analysis This page depicts a humorous domestic scene titled "Settled at Last." A woman enters a restaurant, sits down, tosses her hat and bangs aside, and reads a bill of fare (menu). The accompanying poem by Tom Mason describes her reading habits—fast, slow, wise, near and far—before finally ordering "a cup of nice hot tea." The accompanying illustration shows two boys outdoors discussing the woman's patience while waiting. One boy references "Ran'mother since I've been las'" while the other responds with a joke about a mother waiting at "the door of heaven" with a stick. The satire appears to mock women's indecisiveness, particularly regarding dining choices. The specific historical context of this Life magazine issue (Volume XIX, Number 486) is unclear without additional dating, but the genteel domestic humor was 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.
VOLUME XIX. © NUMBER 486. SETTLED AT LAST. HE comes into the restaurant, She sits down in a chair. She tosses up her bangs and then She reads the bill of She reads it up, she s it down ; She reads it cross- wise, too ; She reads it near, she reads it far; She reads it through and through. She takes it up, she puts it down ; She looks around in doubt ; She hums, she drums, she sighs, she starts ; Her lips begin to pout. The waiter stands with sphinx-like stare First Boy: VS Lost MY GRAN'MOTHER sINcE I For hours, it seems to me. Second Boy (the prize scholar of the Band of Hope): Writ, DON'T And then—she says she “inks she'll have WORRY ; SHE IS WAITING AT THE DOOR OF HEAVEN FOR You ! A cup of nice hot tea. First Boy: \ SHe’s WAITIN' FOR ME IT 1 AT THE DOOR SHE'LL Tom Masson. we, BUT NEWIND IT WITH A STICK. SHE ALWAYS DID HERE! comicbooks.com