Life, 1892-07-14 · page 1 of 14
Life — July 14, 1892 — page 1: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Business is Business" - Life Magazine, July 14, 1892 This satirical cartoon depicts a man on a bicycle encountering a well-dressed couple on a country road. The title and dialogue suggest commentary on hasty marriages driven by financial necessity rather than sentiment. The man warns the couple that the groom-to-be wants an immediate wedding ceremony because his relatives will declare him insane and squander his inheritance if he delays. The satire mocks the mercenary nature of upper-class marriages in the Gilded Age, where wealth and legal status took precedence over romance or proper courtship. The bicycle—then a fashionable novelty—may indicate the rushed, modern pace of such transactions. The rural setting contrasts with the urban, commercial values being criticized. The cartoon ridicules how business logic corrupts personal relationships among the wealthy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
VOLUME XxX. NEW YORK, JULY 14, 1892. Entered at the New York Post Office as Second-Class Mail Matter. Copyright, 1892, by Mrrcuent & Mituex. BUSINESS IS BUSINESS. “Maupe, I AM GOING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING.” YES, DEAR." Now THAT I'M ENGAGED TO THE OLD THING, HE WANTS THE CEREMONY TO TAKE PLACE AT ONCE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO Do.” “MARRY HIM AS SOON AS YOU CAN, DARLING, HIS RELATIVES WILL HAVE HIM DECLARED INSANE AND SPOtL IT ALL IF YOU'RE NOT CAREFUL.” comicbooks.com