Life, 1895-01-03 · page 6 of 18
Life — January 3, 1895 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page The top image shows Henrik Ibsen as an infant (captioned "from a photograph taken in 1828 at the age of six months"), humorously depicting the famous Norwegian playwright in baby form with an adult's bearded face—a visual joke about his enduring cultural significance. Below, "The James L. Ford Association" section satirizes New York's literary scene. The dialogue mocks pretentious writers and intellectuals who claim authority over "literary business" while remaining ignorant of actual New York geography and culture. References to locations like "Mott Street opium joints" and "Mulberry Blend" suggest criticism of writers who pontificate about urban life without genuine knowledge. The satire targets literary gatekeepers and their shallow expertise.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HENRIK IBSEN. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN 1828 AT THE AGE OF SIX MONTHS. | Row who was learning the business by attending regularly the meetings of the Association. “You need not ring the bell on me,” replied the President. “| know I've said it before, but it's the law and gospel of the whole literary business, and you can't hear it too often.” “ Hear, hear!" cried the representative of the Plumbers’ | and Gas-fitters’ Literary Union, who was always allowed to \e | be present as a representative of current literary taste. . THE JAMES L. FORD ASSOCIATION “What man of the Kettledrum School ever passed beyond ef the barbed-wire fence that, for literary purpo: is stretched. across the city just below Cooper Union?” asked the Presi- HAT I object to in these fakirs of the Kettledrum dent. “What man of them knows anything about the School who write for the magazines,” said the interior of a Mott Street opium joint, Mulberry Bend, or President of the Association, when the pipes were lighted, Silver Dollar Smith's saloon ?” “is that they don’t know anything about New York and “Weil, what of it?" asked the Great Objector from never will. They belong to Philadelphia, and ought to stay Madison Square, who was suspected of sympathy with the " Kettledrums, ‘ There was lots of good literature produced . ting!” chirruped his young friend from Park before Mott Street was ever heard of. One Shakspere never OMITTED FROM “THE LITERARY SHOP.” “ce comicbooks.com