Life, 1892-05-26 · page 1 of 18
Life — May 26, 1892 — page 1: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Hideous Doubt" - Life Magazine, May 26, 1892 This cartoon depicts a romantic scenario with a clear gender-politics joke. A man on horseback approaches a woman (presumably Miss Plankington), and the caption reveals the humor: he's been calling on her frequently, but she's always been home when he visits. He expresses relief that she's finally available, but she reveals the actual situation—her repeated "at home" responses don't indicate her actual presence; rather, she's been deliberately avoiding him by being out. The joke satirizes Victorian courtship conventions, where a woman's claimed availability masked her actual whereabouts. The "hideous doubt" is his sudden realization that her formal excuses concealed genuine disinterest. It's social commentary on the gap between polite social rituals and honest romantic communication.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
VOLUME XIX. NEW YORK, MAY 26, 1892. NUMBER aor. Entered at the New York Post Office as Second-Class Mail Matter. Copyright, 1892, by Mrrcwert & Miter, THE HIDEOUS DOUBT. She: YOU WAVE BEEN CALLING ON MISS PLANKINGTON QUITE OFTEN OF LATE, HAVEN'T YOU ? HAS SHE ALWAYS BEEN AT HOME ? He: Tuat's JUST WHAT I HAVE BEEN WONDERING. comicbooks.com