Life, 1892-11-17 · page 12 of 19
Life — November 17, 1892 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page Analysis This page contains multiple satirical pieces targeting American social pretension and hypocrisy circa 1888: **"The Last Entry in the Professor's Diary"** (top left): A bear has mauled a man. The professor's smug diary entry claims vindication in a dispute with "Prof. Brown," asserting bears attack without provocation—even as the cartoon shows otherwise. The satire mocks pompous academics who cling to wrong conclusions. **"Our Cartoon"** (main article): Life criticizes the wealthy Horse Show as mere plutocratic vanity, not genuine horsemanship. The commentary attacks how rich New Yorkers use such events for social display rather than actual appreciation of horses or merit-based judging. **Comic dialogues below**: These mock various hypocrisies—a doctor rejecting religion for social standing, a deacon warning against lies while a boy admits lies often succeed, and a man forgetting a dinner he supposedly treasured. **"Anniversary" (bottom)**: References the Prince of Wales dining at home—unclear without fuller context, possibly satirizing royal domesticity or social pretension. Throughout, Life's satirical target is American elite self-deception and the gap between stated values and actual behavior.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE LAST ENTRY IN THE PROFESSOR’S DIARY. “To-pay, I AM PLEASED TO STATE, I HAVE SETTLED TO MY ENTIRE SATISFACTION, THE DISPUTE BETWEEN PROF, BROWN AND Iv 18 as I HAVE ALWAYS SAID. BEARS will ATTACK MAN WITHOUT PROVOCATION.” OUR CARTOON. ORE than $50,000 was realized from the sale of boxes for the Horse Show. Any one not acquainted with the peculiar intellectual qualifications of our American pluto- cracy might think this financial phenomenon evidenced a strong love for the horse and his belongings. Our cartoon this week shows the true inwardness of the matter. At the Horse Show the horse himself is the least of the attractions. It is the one event of the year where the plutocracy collec- tively permits itself to be gazed upon by the snobocracy, and the interest of true lovers of the horse is not enlisted to any great extent. The judging of some competitions last year was manifestly in such incapable hands that the knowing ones laughed in their sleeves, and characterized the entire function as a dude show. The management should at least avoid the reproach of unfair- ness, and, in view of the magnificent financial support given by the public, should make a serious effort to increase the useful rather than the merely ornamental features of their exhibition. For one thing LiFe suggests that they procure one of the Fifth Avenue stage-outfits and show it alongside of another with the stage and harness in good condition, and with the proper kind of horses properly nourished to perform their arduous labors. * (0 you say, Parson, if I were to join the church it would help my practice ?"” Ve “ Well, I'll tell you, in the first place, science and theology are incompatible, and in the second place, if I can’t have a standing in this community without becoming a Presbyterian, I can practice somewhere else, for | would have you know that people die all over this country.” The Deacon; DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO BOYS WHO TELL LIES? Small Youth: Vessix, THEY GITS OFF, MOST TIMES, IF THEY TELLS GOOD ONES. RANK: I'll never forget that jolly dinner at the club Jim gave us before he was married. Tom: You won't, eh! Why you forgot all about it before the dinner was over. ANNIVERSARY OF THE WEEK. NOVEMBER 16, 1888. THE PRINCE OF WALES DINED AT HOME. comicbooks.com