Life, 1892-08-11 · page 7 of 14
Life — August 11, 1892 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page 77 - Social Satire This page contains two separate jokes about class and courtship in early 20th-century society. The **top cartoon** depicts well-dressed men and women in formal evening wear. The caption satirizes social climbing and gift-giving: a church rector is apparently popular with ladies, so the speaker plans to give him a "smoking jacket" for Christmas—described as "an exact copy of the Holy Coat at Treves" (a famous religious relic). The joke mocks both the pretentiousness of expensive gifts and irreverent comparisons between sacred relics and fashion. The **bottom dialogue** features Mrs. Isaacs and Mr. Isaacs discussing clothes and marriage prospects. When she asks why he doesn't find a nice girl to marry, he responds that he doesn't know eligible women—implying "they do the picking out," reversing traditional expectations of male courtship. It's light social commentary on changing gender dynamics in mate selection.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
He; THAT HIGH CHURCH RECTOR OF YOURS SEEMS A GREAT FAVORITE WITH THE LADIES, She: YES; AND WE'RE GOING TO GIVE HIM A SMOKING JACKET AT CHRISTMAS. He: NOT A VERY CLERICAL PRESENT, 18 IT? She: OW, BUT IT's TO BE AN EXACT COPY OF THE HOLY Coat AT TREVES. RS. ISAACS: How you got your clothes so full of HE: Why don’t you pick out some nice girl in your set cotton ? and marry her ? Mr. Isaacs (brushing himself): 1 vos showing a He: Humph! You don’t know the girls in our set. gustomer dose all vool goots. They do the picking out. comicbooks.com