Life, 1893-11-02 · page 13 of 14
Life — November 2, 1893 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes American high society and pretension through multiple sketches: **Top cartoon**: Two men discuss boxing; the humor likely involves one man's confident boasting about fighting opponents "of his weight." **Fashion section**: Mocks wealthy New York society by highlighting absurd details. "Mr. J. Hansom Noseleigh" is a caricatured socialite whose *invisible* suspenders supposedly merit press coverage—satirizing how society pages report trivial details about the well-dressed elite. The section ridicules Fifth Avenue weddings, genealogical obsession (Missie Kissie's engagement to "P. Gutchings Whing" whose grandmother was a "Dormouse"), and the Van Shekel family's anxiety about maintaining respectability while lacking actual distinction. **Humorous anecdotes**: Include a child's crude misunderstanding of corporal punishment and a joke about God's final creation being "the Haskin's baby." **Bottom cartoon ("Lock Picking")**: Depicts children engaged in mischief. Overall, the page ridicules upper-class pretension, genealogical snobbery, and the emptiness behind society's polished exterior.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
'Y FRIEND, ARE YOU PREPARED FOR THE GOOD FIGHT?" “YOu BET WE ARE! He'LL TACKLE ANYTHING OF HIS WEIGHT IN THE COUNTRY!" IN THE WORLD OF FASHION. R. J. HANSOM NOSELEIGH selects his own sus- penders. He is one of the best dressed men in the smart set, and although his suspenders do not show when he is fully attired, we think it well to get ahead of the daily press and publish any important news of this nature that comes in our way. L*! week there was a wedding on Fifth Ave. and everybody wore clothes. Just what the clothes were and who owned them can be ascertained by studying the daily papers of the next morning. SSIE LISSIE KISSIE is engaged to P. Gutchings Whing, of Philadelphia. Mr, Whing’s grandmother was a Dormouse, and everybody in good society knows the Dormice are one of the very first families of Pennsylvania. Gen. Dormouse, it may be remembered, was drunk at the battle of Long Island, and didn’t get his troops up in time. T was a very select little dinner that Mrs. Tallyho Van Shekel gave to a few friends last Thursday. Everything was expensive, and although the conversation was rather flat all through the dinner, everybody was exquisitely dressed and it passed off unusually well. Mrs. Taliyho Van Shekel is extremely careful in choosing her associates. Her ancestors have owned property on this island for several generations, and none of them have ever been in state's prison, or, in fact, distinguished themselves in any other way. HAD OCCASION TO KNOW. ZOND PARENT: 1 cannot interfere, Bobby; your teacher writes me that she thrashed you on principle. Borpy: Well, she didn’t, Don't you think I know where she licked me? “Now, Fred, WHAT WAS THE LAST THING GoD CREATED?” “THe Haskin's Basy.” ASTERN GIRL: We have the cradle that my grand- father was rocked in. WESTERN GIRL: We have the boots that my grand- father died in. “LOCK PICKING.” comicbooks.com