Life, 1894-03-15 · page 7 of 16
Life — March 15, 1894 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 167 The cartoons on this page satirize the phenomenon of elaborate personal names in New York society. The top illustration mocks the idea of erecting a "Statue of Speed" in New York City, depicting a figure riding a bicycle atop a turtle—an absurd juxtaposition contrasting rapid modern life with slowness. The middle section lists prominent New York names (Hoar, Walker, Kossuth, Whitinge, etc.), suggesting that in America, lacking hereditary titles, people gain status through impressive-sounding names alone. The satirical point: New Yorkers obsess over names as status markers, while Minneapolis achieves this "to a liberal extent." The lower cartoons continue this theme with visual humor about name-consciousness among the city's social classes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SUGGESTION FOR A STATUE OF Speed TO BE EKECTED ANY- WHERE IN NEw York City, SOME NAMES. N acountry where we have no hereditary titles an im- posing effect can be produced by the resounding divi- sion of a name. In New York this has been done to a liberal extent, but we are “ not in it” with Minneapolis, The following extract from a daily paper of that city shows they are easily capable of going us more than one better: Among the distinguished persons who listened to F, Hopkinson Smith were the following: Mr. and Mrs. T. Barto Walker, Mr. and Mrs. L. Kossuth Hull, Mr. and Mrs, W. Channing Whitney, Mr. and Mrs, E. Chenery Gale, Mr. and Mrs. C. Smith Langdon, Mr. and Mrs, A. Merrill Keith, Mr. and Mrs. A. Blake Jackson, Mr. and Mrs, H. Leonard Woodburn, Mr. and Mrs. F, Beaumort Semple, Mr. and Mrs. G, Francis French, Mr, and Mrs. C, Tel- ford Thompson, Mr. and Mrs. H. McIntyre Morton, Mr. and Mrs. G. Edward MacLean, Mr. and Mrs. H. Harrison Thayer, Mrs. F, Gregory Winston, Mr. and Mrs. P. Ashville Pierce, Mr. and Mrs. W. Edwin Steele, D. McBride Chute, L. Bishop Arnold, Miss M. Darroh Linton, Miss A. Langdon Linton, W. Dinsmore Hale, Mrs, W. Edwin Haskell, ij Russell Vanderlip, W. Henry Eustis, H. Hamilton Robinson, H. Jay Smith, W. Henry Hinkle, and many others. A genteel nausea is likely to accompany the perusal of these names, but the same thing occurs daily in our own town, and it is an interesting question whether, we shall, in time, become indifferent to it, or grow more and more ashamed and exasperated, GROUND FOR DISBELIEF. RS, MULLINS (reading the newspaper): A Phila- delphia man rejoices in the name of Medycvny Garczynskiego. Mr. MULLINS: I don't believe it. “You don’t believe that is his right name?” “No; I don’t believe he rejoices in it.” “THE ILLS WE KNOW NOT OF.” © 7 T'S fortunate that Edwin Booth died when he.did ?” “Why >” “ He never had to read Mrs. Kendal's poem on him.” comicbooks.com