Life, 1897-03-11 · page 8 of 20
Life — March 11, 1897 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page 190 of Life Magazine - Analysis **Upper section ("White Chrysanthemum"):** A sentimental poem about a country girl who decorates her room with white chrysanthemums on her wedding day. The narrative describes how she replants them after her husband departs, and later finds joy when they bloom again. This is straightforward romantic fiction, not satire. **Lower section ("The Reward of True Dignity"):** A satirical article proposing that New York's annual Horse Show add an exhibition of "family coachmen" — the drivers of wealthy families' carriages. The accompanying caricature, labeled "A Heavy Swell," depicts a well-dressed coachman as pompous and self-important. The satire mocks how such working-class employees adopt aristocratic pretensions while New York lacks sufficient high-ranking government officials or religious leaders to demonstrate "true" dignity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
> LIFE: WHITE CHRYSANTHEMUM. HE was only a country girl of simple tastes. It was because of this, perhaps, that on her wedding-day She decked herself only with the little white Chey mum flowers that she loved Because they grew beneath her window And when the bride and groom were gone, And these they planted again among those others that she loved Because they grew beneath her window. And when a year and a day had gone by And she came home to them, Dead, and beautiful, They decked her again only And three days had passed, with the little white Chrysanthemum flowers that’ she Those behind found some of loved the blossoms in a bowl of water in her room, where, Because they grew beneath her window. y had taken root THE REWARD OF TRUE DIGNITY. pF begs respectfully to suggest to the managers of ~ the Annual Horse, Beauty and Fashion Show, which is held in New York every fall, that next time they should add to the attractions of their entertainment an exhibition of family coachmen. The coachmen of our first families are creatures of surpassing interest. As seen on the Fifth Avenue they add astly to the dignity of that thoroughfare, and greatly edify the walking contingent who observe them, They are the more appreciated because of the dearth in New York of officials of high rank and commensurate gravity of demeanor, We have only one Archbishop here, “only two or three resident Bishops, no Presidents, ex - Presidents, Judges of the United States Supreme Court, or Sena- tors. Our millionaires do not inspire awe, nor do the officers of our city government. Almost the only member of our social system who isibly impersonates stability and vested rights is the family coachman. His type is definite, and his points are recognized and understood by amateurs. His species, precious as it is, is worthy of cultivation, and would amply repay attention, He appears at his best on the box, with his footman in place and his family inside, and thus he should appear when exhibited at the Horse Show, The exhibition should, of course, be competitive, OME. people lay up something for a rainy day, and others let things go to soak when the time comes. Albert Bigelow Paine. A HEAVY SWELL. Ccomicbooks.com