Life, 1893-09-21 · page 12 of 16
Life — September 21, 1893 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page 188: Social Commentary and Satire This page contains multiple satirical pieces typical of Life's social commentary: **"Every Medal Has Its Reverse"** depicts two poor men discussing fish as brain food—a working-class conversation where one ironically suggests eating fish as a baby might have made him smarter, and his companion quips that intelligence would have forced him to work for a living. The joke mocks both pseudo-scientific health claims and the ironic disadvantages of education for the impoverished. **Other editorial items** address: - Relief efforts for impoverished Sea Islands residents in South Carolina, critiquing inadequate newspaper coverage - President Cleveland's family (likely referencing his daughter's birth at the White House) - The Board of Lady Managers at the Chicago World's Fair, sarcastically questioning women's effectiveness managing other women - Kate Field's review of the "Dance du Ventre" (belly dance) at the fair's Midway Plaisance The final cartoon shows a father making a toy bow for his son, then raging moments later when the arrow nearly hits his eye—satirizing parental hypocrisy about "harmless amusement."
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘LIFE > EVERY MEDAL HAS ITS REVERSE. .L, FISH 1S A BRAIN BUILDER, AN’ I'M THINKIN’ THAT IF “FED ON IT WHEN I WAS A BaBBy, | WOULD HA’ HAD CT INTO ME, AN’ PERHAPS I MIGHT HA’ BEEN R FOR IT!" ES, AN’ IF YER'D HA’ HAD INTELLIGENCE, MAYBE YER'D BIN ED TO WORK FUR A LIVIN’! "? “TRUE! TRUE! EVERYTHINK HAS ITS DRAWBACK.” (And they stroll away, arm in arm, to search the gutters.) IFE fears that the Board of Lady Managers of the Chicago Exhibi- tion will not be remembered as one of the successful achievements of the Columbian year. When woman shines brightest is when she is in immediate contrast to man. Band her together in groups by her- self and she does not do so well. Her mission may be to boss mankind, and, indeed, she often does that very suc- ully. But when it comes to bossing womankind, she should hire the job done. That is not her province. an os « * . ISS KATE FIELD has seen the dance du ventre of the Midway Plaisance, and says that it is curious and not Distinguished authorities are so much at variance about this widely advertised exhibition that it promises to be necessary to set it up in New York and get a final verdict on it from a popular jury of enlightened people. particularly improper. T is hard to rouse as much public sympathy for the Sea Islands sufferers in South Carolina as the magnitude of their misfortunes warrants. They are paying the penalty of being poor and obscure, and of having their misfortunes inadequately heralded in the newspapers. There is a pros- pect that relief will be provided for them in time, but whether starvation will not reach them before the relief does, is still a question. Chip in, brethren, and let us lend these poor people a hand. . . . 1IFE takes pleasure in congratulating Mr. Cleveland on a recent auspicious event. What goes on in Mr. Cleve- land’s family is not properly the affair of the public at large. However, the fact that the young lady made her first ap- pearance on earth in the Executive Mansion lends to that event a quasi-official character which makes the gentleman who happens to be President of the United States fairly “WELL, OLD MAN, WHAT ARE YOU WORKING AT?” “I'M MAKING A BOW AND ARROW FOR MY SON THOMAS, I BE- LIEVE IN PROVIDING HARMLESS AMUSEMENT FOR ONE'S CHILDREN,” (Half an hour tater.) “*CONFOUND YOUR YOUNG HIDE! IF I CATCH YOU, I'LL BREAK THAT BOW OVER YOUR RACK, YOU'VE NEARLY PUT MY EYE OUT!" comicbooks.com