Life, 1895-06-13 · page 7 of 16
Life — June 13, 1895 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 389 The top illustration shows two fashionably dressed women in conversation, with quoted dialogue about happiness and marriage ("Then you must be perfectly happy" / "But it isn't the same man!"). This appears to satirize assumptions about women's marital satisfaction. The lower section, titled "AN AFFECTING OCCASION," describes a farewell party for a departing newspaper editor named Byrnes. The accompanying sketch shows a weeping figure. The text satirizes the sentimental press coverage of Byrnes's departure, suggesting journalists exaggerated emotional details while avoiding explicit mention of tears. The piece mocks the "sheep-like journalistic following" and implies Byrnes accumulated wealth ($3,000 yearly salary mentioned) before leaving—critiquing both journalistic sentimentality and the subject's financial gains.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AND T am 5 you MUST FECTLY HAPPY.” AN AFFECTING OCCASION. who, fortunately, in spite of the sheep-like journalistic [{ X-SUPERINTENDENT _ following Byrnes has had for years, is still capable of draw- BYRNES is said to have ing his own inferences, is not likely to be misled by these wept when he said good-bye to his _lachrymose manifestations. What tender associations Byrnes . former associates in office, and this must have piled up along with the dollars that by virtue affecting picture, with all of its sen- of his place he was gathering into a fortune! To be ruth- timental details, was made the most lessly torn away from these affiliations, to realize that the of by the press of the city. The end is come, and that there is nothing more in it anyway, cause of the ex-chief's tears was except a paltry $3,000 a year, is surely enough to make any carefully avoided, but the intelligent reader, man weep. comicbooks.com