Life, 1897-08-19 · page 3 of 20
Life — August 19, 1897 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This page from *Life* magazine satirizes early 1900s women's fashion and social attitudes about bicycling. The headline asks, "IS IT ANY FUN GETTING A MAN TO TEACH YOU HOW TO RIDE THE WHEEL?" — referring to the bicycle, a then-revolutionary technology enabling women's independence. The three illustrated women display the era's fashionable "Gibson Girl" aesthetic with full skirts and fitted blouses. The accompanying dialogue between characters "Denny Bloomper," "Mr. Bloomper," "Mistress Bridget," and "Bridget" appears to contain malapropisms and wordplay typical of *Life's* humor — including a joke about a goat swallowing a candle and confusion over "codfish" and "ticket." The satire targets both women adopting new technologies and the pretensions of period fashion and speech affectations.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘1s IT ANY FUN GETTING A MAN TO TEACH YOU HOW TO RIDE THE WHEEL 2?” “PUNL WHY, I'VE BEEN TAUGHT THREE TIMES.” Ahead of Time. ENNY BLOOBUMPER: Oh, Obeyed Her. Y love is twenty-one to-day ; papa, the goat has swallowed MSStRESS: Bridget, did you put But, when the count is done 9 Roman candle! the codfish to soak ? Of hearts she’s captured in the fray, Mr. BLoosumpER: That'sall right. BripGer: Sure an’ I did, marm, She's more than twenty won! He merely wanted a light lunch. Here is the ticket. comicbooks.com