Life, 1894-04-12 · page 6 of 14
Life — April 12, 1894 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 238 This page satirizes New York City bachelor apartments and their social impact. The main article "WE ARE IN TROUBLE" discusses a new building with units so attractive that they're discouraging marriage—young women congregate there, interfering with normal business. The building's architect is criticized for creating such desirable bachelor spaces. The central cartoon "A HAPPY MAN" depicts a man juggling multiple romantic interests, illustrating the consequences: bachelor apartments enable men to remain unmarried and socially active rather than settle down. The dialogue snippets ("ENOUGH SAID") mock the excuses men use to avoid commitment—claiming they must stay in Brooklyn rather than attend social events. The satire critiques how urban design and living arrangements facilitate bachelor lifestyles, undermining traditional marriage expectations of the era.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WE ARE IN TROUBLE. IFE is in a quan- dary, As his new building is without question the most artistic monument in the city, it would be an obvious profanation to lease its apartments to bachelors who were so strikingly ugly as to draw the eye from the architect’s work, And on the other hand, it is undesirable to select bachelors so irresistibly beautiful that young ladies will congregate in front of the building in sufficient numbers as to interfere with LiFe’s regular busine: Lire always has been, and means to continue, partial to the girls, but if they insist upon blocking the street in front of his door, he will A HAPPY MAN. Ah, life looks very bright to me, Since I have heard her say, With sweet, becoming modesty, She'll marry me some day- If I will give up smoking ; If I will go to church ; If I will cut the club and leave My best friends in the lurch ; If I will never stay out late, But hasten home at nine ; - LIFE: get even with them by handing the bachelors over to be scrambled for. This will be a cruel revenge, as there is nothing so flat and unprofitable in the long run as a man who is handsome and knows it. But this is somewhat previous, as we are told our apart- ments are far too good for bachelors and may tend to discourage matrimony. This, of course, is a thing LIFE would never be guilty of. We have practically decided to admit only those men who are reasonably beautiful, and on condition that they give up their apartments on receiving the first offer of marriage that is not positively disadvantageous. ENOUGH SAID. EANNETTE (finishing her story): made desperate by my refusal, and he showed it. CLare: Did he rave and tear his hair? JEANNETTE: Worse than that, He said, “Of course I cannot join your theatre party this evening; I shall spend the evening in my room.” And he rooms in Brooklyn ! The man was (OMe: That's why Iam so happy, And why I often seem Unconscious and abstracted— I'm living in adream ! If T will let her have ber iway— = She's promised to be mine ! = She is so sweet and pretty, And so unselfish, too! If L will move to Brooklyn ; And never touch a card ; If L will buckle down to work, And labor long and hard To buy her stylish bonnets, And gowns, and lots of gloves ; Then I may be that happy than, ‘The lucky man she loves ! If I'll be always pleasant, And never, never scold ; And never make her nurse me And not grow cross and old ; And always sfay good-looking— She can't stand ugly men— If I come up to her ideal, Why, we'll be married, then ! I wonder how I won her love— I can’t believe it’s true ! RIG! killed in cold blood ? Griccs: Did 1! Why, don’t I have to go down Broadway every day ? Did you ever see a man comicbooks.com