Life, 1898-03-17 · page 7 of 20
Life — March 17, 1898 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "A True Diplomat" This appears to be a satirical story illustration from *Life* magazine depicting a domestic scene. The narrative concerns a father learning he has fathered twins and his emotional response—described in the text as overwhelming feelings of pride mixed with anxiety about responsibility. The "diplomat" reference in the title likely satirizes the father's careful emotional management: he must balance expressing joy over the birth while concealing his deeper worries about parental obligations. The illustration shows what appears to be the father with a nurse and another figure in a Victorian-era interior. The satire plays on masculine emotional restraint and the contrast between public composure and private feeling—a common theme in early 20th-century *Life* humor about domestic life and gender roles.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
You will probably never fully understand the feelings of a father.” A True Diplomat. Y I come in?” A moment before, Whipperl. had been sitting alone in front of the re, his face betraying that supreme look 1 melancholy, that cringing disquie- tude, which is the unhappy accompani ment of an unexpected, unlooked-for nd unsought responsibility. Ashe heard the well-known and authoritative voice that uttered these words, however, he straightened himself up, and there came over him a look of iron resolution. It was evident that this young man, so re- cently a father, could be in ao emer: sency entire master of himself, Hastily -triding to the door, he opened it, and he nurse entered, serene, triumphant, her whole attitude descriptive of that superiority over man which is the pe- culiar prerogative of her profession, and bearing in her sturdy arms the twin rep- resentatives of the house of Whipperly. A gorgeous, wholesale, unstinted and beatific smile broke out on the face of the young father, spreading swiftly to his cars, and expressive of every tender, joyful emotion that lies hin the boundaries of the masculine heart. “Miss Jones,” he said, as he slapped his hands on his knees, ** upon an occa- sion like this words fail me. When 1 say to you that the thought of twins never once entered my mind, you will appreciate my—er—overwhelming feel- ings when I was told the joyful news. It was almost too much for me to bear. I have not yet recovered. It seems almost too good to be true. You will probably never fully understand the feel- ings of a father, even when only one little beauty is concerned. But to have two of them! That is almost too much! This day, Miss Jones, I can assure you, is one of the—er—happiest days of my Thirty minutes later a young man sat alone, gloomy and abstracted, with a bottle on one side and a box of perfectos on the other, Yet there was a certain look of satisfaction on his face as he ab- ently struck a match and said to him- self: “[ think I acted that part fairly well. Suppose that nursc knew how I really felt? Why, she wouldn't stay with us three hours.” comicbooks.com