Life, 1895-02-28 · page 12 of 20
Life — February 28, 1895 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page Analysis This page contains three satirical pieces mocking early 1900s social conventions: **"Not His Ideal"** jokes about Mr. Clinker's hypocrisy: he claims to believe in intellectual aristocracy but actually pursues membership in the "400"—the exclusive social register of New York's wealthiest families. The satire targets pretentious climbers who contradict their stated principles. **The Editress joke** ridicules a young female editor who refuses her lover's proposal because his poverty means he cannot afford postage stamps—mocking both her mercenary values and the era's obsession with superficial markers of wealth. **The widow cartoon** (top illustration) suggests a woman deliberately married a man before he could change his mind, inverting romantic expectations and implying cynical calculation in marriage. The remaining items—wedding cake folklore, umbrella jokes, and a Florida orange frost report—are brief humor snippets typical of Life's miscellaneous content sections.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
NOT HIS IDEAL. ORA: Does Mr. Clinker believe in the aristocracy of the in- tellect ? Cora: No. He told me he was trying to get in the 400, as N AY,” said the young editress, coldly, to her penniless lover, “ask me not to break every tradition of my chosen calling—I can- not return your love—for it is unaccompanied by - stamps!" “SO HE REALLY FELL IN LOVE WITH THAT wipow!” “No. SHE MARRIED HIM BEFORE HE HAD A CHANCE To.” RECENT DISPATCHES FROM THE FLORIDA ORANGE DISTRICTS REPORT MANY THOUSAND BOXFS FROZEN ON THE TREES. ECHOES OF THE WEDDING. ‘CT T'S all nonsense, dear, about wed- ding cake. I put an enor- mous piece under my pillow and dreamed of nobody.” “Well?” “ And the next night J ate it and dreamed of everybody !" HERE are two ways of putting up an umbrella, so as to soak it. comicbooks.com