Life, 1896-03-12 · page 19 of 20
Life — March 12, 1896 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes transatlantic cultural pretension through "Anglo-American Vignettes." The central cartoon mocks American women's infatuation with British aristocracy and affectation. The dialogue features a dowager duchess (referencing Du Maurier, the famous British illustrator) questioning why American girls are attracted to coachmen—implying they marry beneath their station. The "Gibson Girls" (American high-society women popularized in illustration) respond that they admire British mannerisms, claiming even coachmen "look every inch a lord." The satire targets American Anglomania: the aspirational mimicry of English nobility and style. The joke cuts both ways—mocking American social climbers who idealize British servants' bearing while also suggesting the superficiality of class distinctions. The page uses the "mechanical process" of combining Du Maurier's refined British illustration style with American Gibson Girl aesthetics to highlight cultural collision and snobbery on both sides of the Atlantic.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ANGLO-AMERICAN VIGNETTES. Jatroducing a new mechanical process by which the familiar creations of two widely different schools of iMustration are forced to meet and SOCIAL BRITISH AMERICANISMS. of Sourly (Du Maurier) : SO WEIS THAT COUNTRYMAN OF YOURS SHE MARRIED—AND HER FATHER'S COACIIMAN f WHATEVER IS [P THAT INFATUATES ALL YOU AMERICAN GIRLS WITH COACIIMEN, YOU KNOW ? First Gibson Girl: \t'S & FORM OF ANGLOMANIA, YOUK GRACE, OUR HIMEN ARE The Dowager Duchess SWELL COAG $0 LIKE YOUR ENGLISH NORLEMEN: Second on Girl: VES, WE LOOKS EVERY INCH A LORD. I heg to inform my patrons and friends, that I now have a most complete line of Spring and Summer Importations ...... which for elegance and style cannot be sur- and in my commodious quarte * Building, 1 am able to give ¢ Inviti passe the * Lif and all the most careful attention an early inspection of my stoc ing my friends for their kind recommenda- tions, I remain, respectfully. JAMES L. McEWEN. Life Building. 19 West 31st Street, N.Y. Age Smalpage & Son, Also (London, England. Hummel & Co. ‘ for A Story by the Editor of LIFE. AMOS JUDD. By J. A. Mircnen.. Second Edition, 16mo, 75 cents. “The story is bright and is told in an orig. transported an Indian ‘him fabu- a prophetic for a sa unique boc is ne would ¢ Journal. CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS, 153-157 Fifth Ave., N.Y.