Life, 1892-10-20 · page 12 of 16
Life — October 20, 1892 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page Analysis This page contains several satirical vignettes typical of early 20th-century American humor: **Top cartoon**: An aspiring actress rejects a suitor's marriage proposal, claiming it would interfere with her stage career. The man suggests divorce would actually *boost* her fame—satirizing both theatrical self-promotion and the scandal value of divorce in that era. **"The Explanation"**: A man complains he rarely meets intelligent women, yet the caption reveals intelligent men avoid *him*—ironic social commentary on male ego. **"A Piscatorial Camera"**: Two men discuss a underwater camera designed to photograph "big fish that get away"—mocking the fisherman's tall tale of "the one that got away." **"Sweet Reminders"**: A photographer laments his vacation photos are ruined because every single one inexplicably contains his girlfriend. The lengthy text reveals he obsessively photographed her repeatedly, then she jilted him, leaving hundreds of spoiled plates—self-deprecating humor about romantic rejection and artistic failure. The humor relies on everyday situations and mild social observations rather than political content.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-LIFE-: a Amateur Actress (who intends to adopt the stage asa profession) : No, Mr. KERSMITH, I CANNOT MARRY YOU, NOR ANY MAN; IT WOULD INTERFERE WITH MY CHOSEN CAREER. Mr. K.: BUT THINK HOW A DIVORCE WOULD Boom You ! SWEET REMINDERS. Atk these photographs are useless! They represent a summer thrown away. And yet they are greatly admired. Everyone says they are ‘so artistic.” When I took them I thought they would remind me pleasantly of those happy days. A SUPREME MOMENT. THE EXPLANATION. ““ "Tis strange, 'tis very strange !" so X com- plains, ‘That I so seldom meet a man of brains.” Poor X ! ‘tis melancholy, yet ‘tis true, That men of brains avoid a chat with you. A PISCATORIAL CAMERA. BUDWEISSER : Have you seen the new piscatorial sub-aqueous camera ? BARTHOLOMAY: What's it for ? BUDWEISSER: To pho- a x “ tograph the big fish that get away. “*MISTHER O'HALLAGHAN, ARE YEZ THRYIN’ TO MURDHER YER CHILD?” “(IT's THRYIN’ TER SAVE THE LITTLE FELLEY'S LIFE I aM, Mrs. CLANCY, THE DOCTHER RECOMMENDS PURE MOUNTAIN AIR, AND AS WE COULDN'T LEAVE THE TINEMINT, I'M GIVIN' HIM WHAT'S MIGHTY NEAR IT.” But—Jhey don't! There isa girlin every one of them. That isthe cefect. Here is a view of Lake Espy. Notice the beautiful reflection of the mountain in the water, Also notice the girl seated in the bow of a boat whose bow rests on the shore. This is a scene in the woods, See how delicately the tree-tops are outlined against the sky. It is a very clear negative; but there is the girl on a stump in the foreground. This is the finest ‘‘ interior” I evertook. The hall at the Cedars.” Yes, that's the girl again, just coming down the stairs and holding up her skirt with one hand, No; she isn’t always as pretty as that. She looked particularly well that day, This is looking down the valley from Steep Rocks. How well those thunder-heads came out in the development—big, white and ficecy. You can almost feel the electricity in the air, The lace on the girl's parasol is blurred a little. It moved in the wind, Here I am helping her across Kaskoag Brook, just above the old saw-mill. I gave her small brother a quarter to press the button for that picture. I wish I hadn't! This issheand I again. In ‘Cosy Nook.” Don’t I look like a sentimental idiot? / was. For she jilted me! And spoiled two hundred plates, She's in every one cf them. I shall have to throw them away. Or, no; I will mail themtoher. That will dispose of them gracefully, I don’t want them around, But when [ photograph next year, there will be no girl in front of the camera! No, sir; mot much! Harry Romaine. comicbooks.com