Life, 1892-09-01 · page 3 of 16
Life — September 1, 1892 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page (Volume XX, Number 505) **Top Cartoon**: A joke about a man's "poetic feet"—the punchline reveals they "go to meet her," a play on words mocking romantic pretension. **"On a Boston Maid"**: A poem and accompanying illustration satirize a young woman named Ethel Perkins from Minerva Beaconstreet. The humor mocks her pretensions: she attended an Ibsen matinee, discussed literary figures (Holmes, Browning, Buddha, Keats), and took her date to a baseball game instead of theater—then demanded oyster stew as compensation for a "shattered" heart. The satire targets upper-class affectation and the contradiction between intellectual posturing and mercenary behavior. The final exchange between Granger and Neustreet about "business depression" with a "silver lining" appears unrelated political commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
NUMBER 505. She: Why IN THE WORLD DOES HE CALL His Fi He: Because THE T Poetic? GO TO MEET IER, YOU KNOW, ON A BOSTON MAIO. I J ER name was Ethel Per- kins, Not * Minerva Beaconstreet;" She was plump and pink and dimpled, And. frivolous and sw No gleaming gold-rimmed glasses Bestrode her pretty nose, And her fluffy golden hair was banged, And Redfern made her clothes. I talked of Holmes and Schiller, Whom she didn't scem to know, I spoke of Robert Browning And his tangled verbal flow ; I mentioned Buddha, Heine, And she listened most p . But) murmured, “Who are they?" I bought seats for an Ibsen matince, She frowned—"* Oh, what a shame ! “Why didn’t you get tickets * For the Yale and Harvard game?” T took her out to lunch one day, And ordered beans for two ; She turned her little nose aloft And asked for oyster stew, ! Alas! My Boston maid, Thy ideal of your kind You've shattered, and my hapless heart Is broken too, I find, Beware, then, sweet Athenian girl, For damages I'll sue, And should I gain my precious suit, The award I ask is—you ! Gertrude Evans King. R. GRANGER: It seems to me that there is a cloud of business depression hanging over this country, Mr, NEUSTREET: Yes, and it has a silver lining. comicbooks.com