Life, 1895-11-14 · page 6 of 20
Life — November 14, 1895 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 310 This page satirizes an elaborate **wedding trousseau** for a high-society groom ("His Grace"), likely a duke or aristocrat. The upper section catalogs luxurious items: an ornate jacket, pajamas, bath gown, and a sock valued at $1,000,000—absurdly expensive for a single sock, which is the joke's exaggeration. The bottom section shows wedding gifts including diamond jewelry, cufflinks, and wine, mocking wealthy excess. The two dialogues below ridicule pretension: one involves a silver wedding anniversary discussion where silver has depreciated in value; the other jokes about a man employed at a "dime museum" (a cheap tourist attraction), suggesting he's not actually wealthy despite his affected status. The satire targets **Gilded Age excess and social climbing**.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
310 OF INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE. REALIZING THE UMIVERSAL INTEREST TAKEN IN THE DUKO-VANDERBILT WEDDING, LIFE HAS SECURED RELIABLE VIEWS OF THE GROOM’S, TROUSSEAU, AND ALSO AUTHENTIC PORTRAITS OF SOME OF THE GIFTS PRESENTED TO THE GROOM, LIFE CANNOT AFFORD TO LET THE DAILY PRESS BEAT IT IN THESE IMPORTANT Soot bee The Sock where His Grace put the His Grace's Bath Gown, $5,000,000. Upper Section of His Grace's Pajamas. VIEWS OF THE DOOK’S TROUSSEAU. His Grace's Dress Suit His Grace's Golfing Car. SOME OF THE PRESENTS. One of the Diamonds Baccarat Sleeve Links presented by Albert Edward. by the bride's father. — Colorado. “eo Coe around next week Saturday, Hawkins. My wife and I are going to celebrate our silver wedding.” Iver wedding? Why you haven't been married more than twelve years, “I know it; but silver has depreciated. twelve where it used to be twenty-five.” It’s only worth Shooting Jacket pre- from the-handful given sented by the State of Garter Clasp presented: by Her Majesty the Queen. A little Gift to him- The Ring. self, by the Groom. ‘© 7 THOUGHT I saw you coming out of a dime museum yesterday.” “Perhaps you did, I'm employed in one now.” “What? Why, there's nothing freakish about you.” “Oh, yes there i: I'm the only man who's never been run down by a bicyclist.” comicbooks.com