Life, 1896-12-24 · page 7 of 20
Life — December 24, 1896 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "A Problem" - Life Magazine Satire This illustration depicts a domestic dispute during Christmas season. The caption reads: "WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO PUT THE CHRISTMAS TREE IN YOUR FLAT? 'WE HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO DECIDE YET BETWEEN THE BATHROOM AND THE FIRE-ESCAPE.'" The satire mocks urban apartment living, specifically the cramped conditions faced by middle-class city dwellers. The dialogue reveals the couple's dilemma: their apartment is so small that the only available spaces for a Christmas tree are the bathroom or fire escape—neither suitable or dignified locations. This reflects early 20th-century concerns about urban housing density and the challenges of maintaining traditional holiday customs in modest urban homes. The humor lies in the absurdity of the limited options available to apartment residents.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Guest: we "t feel yourself so ignorant when you talk with me? (rising): I'm not used to playing cipher to big figures. So good-night to you! The Man (catching her hand): Don't go. It’s Christmas Eve, and I can't go back to my books for consolation, You've brought the breath of the real world in bere to-night. I've been realizing what I have missed in all these years. Beautiful thoughts, and pure reason, and lofty imagination, are poor substitutes for A PROBLEM. human nature. I've followed my bent—ob, so many years! Over there I'm told that they speak my name with awe when anyone men- tions Dramatic Poetry. Characters that I have created in Arcady are household words on Earth, / am simply a few black letters on a page. But the idle phantoms of my brain are the real thing over there. Men and women go to see the places where I said the phan- toms lived. They even love my characters, ARE YOU GOING TO PUT THE CHRISTMAS TREE IN YOUR FLAT? “WE HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO DECIDE YET BETWEEN THE BATHROOM AND THE FIR} ESCAPE." but they think of me as a soul content, living on his fame. The Girl (laughing): What do you want, anyhow? You dothe kind of work that pleases you; Arcady is your home, and the problems of daily bread and social competition touch you not. (Sowing sauctly) Moreover, you have the admiration of choice creatures like me The Man (pointing through a cloud): Look at that picture! A blazing hearth, an easy comicbooks.com