Life, 1895-08-08 · page 12 of 14
Life — August 8, 1895 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This page satirizes American society's contradictions and moral decline through several connected sketches: **"A Preference"** mocks bicycle accidents as preferable to modern life, quoting Tennyson to suggest nostalgia for European culture over contemporary American conditions. **"On the Coast"** depicts a man claiming to enjoy peaceful seaside leisure while a telegram summons him back to family obligations—satirizing the gap between aspirations and reality. **"Oh, We Know It!"** is the page's centerpiece: an English periodical criticizes American newspapers' vulgarity. The text agrees, arguing that "decent Americans" hypocritically condemn their press while consuming its twelve daily pages of scandal. It darkly suggests this media diet causes American girls to lose their youth prematurely. **"Quite Ready"** shows a couple's brief exchange about a decorative flower, likely commenting on superficial concerns amid deeper social problems. Overall, the page critiques American hypocrisy: citizens claim moral superiority while enabling the sensationalist press they publicly deplore, with harmful effects on society, particularly young women.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A PREFERENCE, TOOK a header off my wheel And then was forced to say, “* Better fifty years of Europe Than a cycle of to-day.” ON THE COAST. TIME, 11:30 A. M. What he said (the party stretched on rocks): THIS 1S SIMPLY DELIGHTFUL: THE BRACING AIR PUTS NEW LIFE INTO ME; AWAY FROM THE HEATED CITY, FROM BUSINESS—AND MY WIFI What the Telegram said; WILL BE DOWN WITH MOTHER AND THE CHIL- DREN ON THE TWELVE O'CLOCK TRAIN. OH, WE KNOW IT! | es a recent copy of an English periodical we see this : “The taste of the conductors of American newspapers can hardly be said to improve as time goes on. The outrageous vulgarity, unre- deemed by any flash of wit or humorous suggestion, that flaunts itself even in some of the journals that pride themselves upon their superiority over their rivals, ought to make all decent Americans ashamed of their national pre: The writer may have been hot when this was written, and if he had paused to discover how “ decent Americans ” regard their own newspapers he would perhaps have economized his ink. Every‘ decent American " is painfully aware of the fact that his daily press is far more vulgar, degrading and mendacious than that of any other country. But the “decent American” must have his twelve pages of filth and scandal every morning. or he feels that he is behind the times. The saddest feature of it all is that his wife and daughters read the same stuff. And we are won- dering why the American girl loses her bloom so carly in life! QUITE READY. E: I'd likea flower in my coat when I go, SHE: I'll put it in now. comicbooks.com