Life, 1893-01-05 · page 25 of 60
Life — January 5, 1893 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page features a dialogue-based cartoon satirizing American women and transatlantic cultural attitudes, likely from the early 1900s. The central portrait appears to be **M.A. Woolf**, presumably the cartoonist or subject. The sketch depicts a social gathering where an American "Miss Fan" defends American girls against criticism from foreign visitors—a "Midge" (likely British), an Egyptian, and what appears to be a Scottish character (possibly referencing author J.M. Barrie, mentioned in context). **The satire's targets:** - Foreign stereotypes about American women being nervous and impertinent - American girls' perceived lack of romance and illusions - The gap between how American women are portrayed in novels versus reality - Miss Fan's defense ironically exposes American women as practical, business-minded, and moralistic rather than romantic—undercutting her own argument The humor lies in Miss Fan's pompous justification: American girls marry "every time" out of inherited "business tact" and "religious instincts"—essentially admitting the very superficiality foreigners accused them of.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
* LIFE = 23 M. A, WOOLF. Meu Lapy (gently): We are not all nervous and imper- tinent over here. Come visit us oftener, Mr. James. THE MipGe: Oh, who would say so cruel a thing about us? I've found everybody so kind in New York. Miss FAN (astéde to Life): A little Bohemian from the French quarter—that kind is alway They live in such a little bit of a world and have to help each other. THE EGyprian: It seems to me that all you American girls know too much. You have no illusions, no romance. In Scotland we still oc Miss Fan: How only happens in Bowery hote generous. asionally die for the man we love. horrid! Over here that sort of thing . among foreigners. Barrie: Ay. But what does the real American lass do for the man she loves with all her soul ? Miss FAN: her, and would not if he could, T! of you good people who write our novels. shallow in our artifices, and often so vulgar and impertinent. Really, don’t you see that the girl of the period uses fixesse We are Marries him, every time. He can’t escape at is why I don’t approve You make us so with sincerity? That is where you misinterpret. us. not artificial ; we simply combine the business tact that we inherit from our fathers, with the fidelity and religious in- stincts that we inherit from our mothers. comicbooks.com