Life, 1899-01-19 · page 3 of 20
Life — January 19, 1899 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page 43: "LIFE" Magazine Content Analysis This page contains three satirical pieces: **Top Illustrations:** Two classical-style engravings labeled "Historic Flirtations" reference biblical/literary figures—Adam and Eve, and Samson and Delilah—using them as historical examples of romantic entanglement and seduction. **"The Music Lover":** A poem satirizing opera enthusiasts who attend performances not for musical merit but for social status and to be seen in expensive boxes. The speaker lists shallow reasons for attending—bright singers, fashionable dress, social positioning—while dismissing actual musical quality. **Bottom dialogue:** A brief comic exchange where a publisher pressures an author for another book within three weeks, and the author deflects with excuses. The overall tone is characteristic of *Life* magazine's early 20th-century satirical approach to mocking social pretension and cultural affectation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Solara — HISTORIC FLIRTATIONS. SAMSON AND DRLILAM. “ And his strength went from him.""—Judges zel., 19. ADAM AND EYE. “And the woman tempted me.” Well knowing I've paid for my ticket and The Music Lover. LOVE to go to the opera- house And sit in a downstairs tenor mixed With the hum of the busy street. Tove to seo bright Lohengrin Come sailing along the flat In an open clamshell, drawn along By a fino big theatro hat. Tlove to see Mephistopheles Shut up in a pillar-case, And sing till the church Is shaken to The depths of its canvas baso, T love to list to the honeyed tones ‘That come from sopranos’ throats, Don’t havo to meet their notes, But best of all the things I know In music—I must speak froo— “BRINGING THINGS TO A HEAD." Is whon some girl inagrand-tier box Smiles pleasantly down at mo, Van Dyke may havo a frog in his throat, De Resko a plugged-up Bronx, And Eames may sing a hoarso, indeed, . As the honkiest gooso that honks, ICT get tbat smile from tho girl up- stairs I’m bappy, whatever may hap; For it makes all others along my alslo Think I'm a douco of a chap! Carlyle Smith, UBLISHER: Can you turn out another book in three weeks? Autor: Why so soon? “Tt will never do to let the public forget you.”