Life, 1897-07-22 · page 3 of 20
Life — July 22, 1897 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 63 **"Quite Visible" Cartoon:** The top illustration satirizes a woman seeking financial support. She asks a man "Have you any visible means of support?" — a legal requirement for respectability at the time. The man's evasive posture suggests he lacks steady employment or income, making him an unsuitable match. This mocks both social class anxiety and the era's obsession with proving financial stability before marriage. **"Sir Cupid's Monte Carlo" Poem:** This poem critiques casual romantic dalliances, using gambling ("Monte Carlo") as metaphor. It suggests young men treat love frivolously, leaving "broken hearts" without consequence. The verse laments that summer romances lack sincerity. **Office Boy Joke:** The merchant-office boy dialogue provides light comic relief about a church picnic gone wrong.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
QUITE VISIBLE. “HAVE YOU ANY VISIBLE MEANS OF SUPPORT?" “oro LOIKE 1’ KNOW PHAT YE CALL THOT!" IR CUPID'S MONTE CARLO. Curip causes great commo- tion, Down beside the restless ocean, Where the breakers kiss the shore; Love at sight is all the fashion, Men and maids with tender passion Vow to love forevermore. ~ On the sands we hear them sighing, As they speak of love undying, Blushing maids and carnest men; Then the human cards are shufed, And with baby brow unruffled, Fickle Cupid deals again. Once a maiden weeping, worried, From this Monte Carlo hurried, “LT have lost my heart!" she cried. Then she railed at Cupid's dealing, Called the careless boy unfeeling, Till at length the god replied: “In the game of summer wooing You are now denouncing, rucing, Broken hearts are not my fault. Summer vows, ‘tis Cupid's notion, Should be taken like the ocean, With a large amount of salt!" Earle H. Eaton. ERCHANT: Well, Patrick, was your Sunday- school picnic a success yesterday? Orrice Boy: Yes, sir, but it opened orful slow. There wasn’t a black eye in the crowd ‘til after four o'clock.