Life, 1892-08-11 · page 11 of 14
Life — August 11, 1892 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Commentary on Page 81 of Life Magazine This page contains a serialized story with accompanying illustrations rather than political cartoons. The narrative depicts a social encounter at a swimming pool involving a woman named Tom and a man with a "strongly Semitic face" described as "pompous" and claiming membership in an exclusive club (the Medici). The story illustrates early 20th-century class and ethnic tensions: a gentleman makes antisemitic remarks and attempts to intimidate the woman by invoking his social status and implying her companion is Jewish. The illustrations show figures near the pool in confrontational poses. At page's bottom, "The Labor Question" presents a brief comedic dialogue between a servant and husband about wages and living arrangements—satirizing servant employment dynamics of the era. The content reflects period attitudes toward class, ethnicity, and labor that modern readers would recognize as dated and offensive.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE: delicate though deeply sunburned face. Such a face as inclines a man to spell woman with a big W and wonder that he ever regarded his maternal aunt as a meddling old nuisance. As a wave of mingled astonishment and pleasure broke over Tom's features, he noticed that although her arms were divinely dimpled, her wrists were small and slender. Decidedly she had birth as well as beauty. “ By Jove! I—I beg your pardon, you know!" he exclaimed. “Oh, never mind, it was only an accident,” she said, kindly. “Don't call it an accident,” he pleaded, as he recovered his custom- ary cast-iron sang frord, “ Perhaps it is a reward which the gods have sent me for previous good conduct.” “ Have you been as good as that?" she asked, saucily. “ Better,” answered Tom, promptly. At the outrageous piece of egotism, she laughed appreciatively, and then turned and swam slowly away. Tom followed her. The acquaintance ripened rapidly, until Tom noticed a swarthy old gentleman making frantic signals to his fair friend. He had a strongly Semitic face and a prosperous and pompous air, which, with the three diamond studs that shone from the front of his negligee shirt, proclaimed him as powerful a member of his race as ever wore the proud symbol of the Medici upon his escutcheon. Presently he caught the girl’s eye. “ My tear! My tear!” he bawled across the pool; “von't you come oud a minute; your mudder vants you.” Tom was thunderstruck. He looked at the girl again. monstrous ; horrible! Yet she was dark. “Is that man your father?" The question burst out before he knew what he was saying. “That man!" she replied, scornfully. ‘No, that’s Mr. Oppen- heimer, papa’s broker; but he’s very nice—even if he is a Jew.” And with these stinging words she left him and reached the side of the tank with a few rapid strokes. Then, as Tom realized the fatal character of his mistake, he plunged It was WHY, WHAT'S THE MATTER? She; Do YOU TAKE NOTHING YOURSELF ? He; No, Tuty'vE PASSED A LAW HERE THAT NO MAN CAN HAVE A GLASS OF WHISKEY UNLESS HE'S BEEN BITTEN BY A RATTLESNAKE, AND THE ONLY SNAKE IN TOWN 18 SIX WEEKS BEHIND HIS ORDERS NOW, beneath the surface, and, after swimming three hun- dred feet under water, bobbed up at the other end of the pool. Harry Romaine. THE LABOR QUESTION. ~ERVANT (2 an intel- ligence office): How many in family ? HusBanp: Three. SERVANT: What do you pay? HUSBAND: Five dollars. SERVANT: Where do you live ? HusBAND: Oh, don't bother about that ; we'll move anywhere you wish. comicbooks.com