Life — September 24, 1896 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Life Magazine, September 24, 1896 - "For Summer Only" The cartoon depicts two figures under a large umbrella during what appears to be a rainstorm. The caption reads: "She: 'This is our last interview, dear.' / He: 'Why, what do you mean? / Aren't we both going back to town tomorrow?'" The satire concerns a summer romance—a temporary relationship confined to the summer season. The couple's farewell, despite both returning to the city the next day, satirizes the shallow nature of seasonal flirtations. The "summer only" caption emphasizes that such romantic entanglements were understood as temporary arrangements, existing outside normal social life. This reflects Victorian-era social commentary on leisure-class behavior and the performative nature of resort romances.