Life — April 12, 1900 — page 13: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Life Magazine Cartoon Analysis This cartoon depicts a social scene centered on "kissing games"—parlor games popular in early 20th-century courtship. The male figure (Dick Wittington, likely referencing the English nursery-rhyme character) expresses disapproval of such games to a young woman. Her demure response—"No, there is always such a crowd"—suggests she objects not to kissing games themselves, but to the *public nature* of the activity. The satire mocks both figures: his prudish disapproval and her hypocritical objection based on audience size rather than principle. The elaborate floral setting and formal dress indicate an upper-class social gathering. The cartoon satirizes the era's courtship conventions and the contradictions between stated morality and actual social practice.