Life, 1893-07-20 · page 12 of 18
Life — July 20, 1893 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 44 The main cartoon depicts two well-dressed men in conversation, with the caption presenting dark humor about marriage in heaven versus hell. One man suggests marriages must exist in the afterlife's lower regions because "they say it is an awful place"—the joke being that marriage itself is terrible, making it appropriate punishment for hell. Below is "Life's Arithmetic," a satirical column by H.M. Perley offering absurdist math problems mocking turn-of-century American society. The questions ridicule wealthy socialites (women engaged to multiple men whose interest correlates to the father's wealth), lazy college students, status-obsessed nouveaux riches, financially ruined men, and exploitative employers of working animals. The satire targets both the frivolous leisure class and broader social hypocrisy—particularly the contrast between polite society and moral corruption. The final problem about starving horses and damnation suggests Animal welfare concerns mixed with class critique.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“THERE ARE NO MARRIAGES IN HEAVEN, YOU KNOW. 1 WONDER HOW IT IS IN THE OTHER PLACE?” “OU, THEY MUST HAVE THEM THERE. ‘THEY SAY IT 1S AN AWFUL PLAC 1. Suppose there are 10 men at the beach this summer and Clara is engaged to 2 of them, Kitty to 4} of them, and Molly to 34; of them, how many days will it take Ethel to be engaged to all of them when they discover that her papa is a millionaire ? 2. If it takes a lazy freshman 24 hours to mow a lawn 7 feet by 15, how long will it take his feet to reach a base-ball match a mile away ? 3. If you were rich enough to build a hotel palace, if you had all your garments made in London, and required a valet to button your gloves, besides being a reader of society notes, how long would it take you to become a perfect ass, suppos- ing you are not one already ? 4. If you have lost heavily on the street, if 3 men have each borrowed 25 dollars of you and you have been black- balled at the club, will you stamp on your new hat that cost you 5 dollars, or go home and be cross to your wife, who expects nothing else ? 5. If it takes a Fifth Avenue Stage horse 12 months to die when he wants to die in 5 minutes, how long will it take the men who starved him to death to get out of a place that is hotter than New York in summer ? H.M. Perley. comicbooks.com