Life, 1901-12-02 · page 32 of 44
Life — December 2, 1901 — page 32: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical sketch about a marriage proposal in New York City that keeps failing because of urban noise—specifically the constant din of elevated trains and street cars. The two characters, HE and SHE, sit alone in a Third Avenue apartment on a hot August evening. As HE attempts to romantically propose ("I love you...will you be my darling...as long as I live"), his words are repeatedly drowned out by the thunderous sounds of passing trains and cars (represented by the "ker-chug," "whangita," "buzz" onomatopoeia filling the dialogue). SHE keeps asking him to speak louder because she cannot hear him over the noise. The irony is that HE keeps aside-commenting "Damn those cars!" while trying to express his deepest feelings—a satire on how modern urban transportation ruins intimate moments and makes city life hellish. The joke targets New York's increasingly unbearable noise pollution during the early industrial era. The top cartoon uses Inuit figures to mock similar themes of civilization's intrusion on peace.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Igloo: THR MISSIONARY 18 SO DISGUSTED WITH OUR SINGING THAT IIB'S AFRAID TO STAY UNTIL THE NEXT THAW SETS IN. Blubber : WHAT'S HE APRAID OF? “ APRAID THAT OUR ARCHY proposal. SHE is also a little shy and coquettish. A New York City, Third Avenue, sky parlor, with windows wide open, the weather being extremely hot. HE and SHE seated alone in the parlor. Elevated cars and electric surface cars going by every two seconds. Heavy y and brewery wagons banging over the street. TIME. An August evening at the moment of the beginning of the proposal. He (wiping great drops of sweat from his face with a bright-colored silk handker- chief): 1—1—What a delightful even- CTURE 18 FROZEN MUSIC.” ing this is. I—I have been thinking (timidly placing his right hand on the back of her chair) I ought to—iker- chug, ker-chug-chug, bur-rrrr_ ker- chug, whir-r-r-rrrr) home—(puff-puff, whangittabang, whirrr, ker-chug-chug) my own—(bangitawhangalanggg, ker- chug, ker-chug, buzz-z-z-222zz) (Aside) Damn those car: Sue (yelling): Beg pardon, but I did not understand. The cars make—(ker- chug-chug, ker-chug, burr-rr-rrrr buzz- Px zz) noise—(bangwhangitaclang- bang, burrrrrr, ker-chug, ker-chug). HE (aocing his hand tico inches sarther along the back of the ehair): 1 love— (ker-chug-chug, ker-chug, bangita whangitabangalang bur-r-rrrrrr) will you be—(whirt-r-r-r-rrr, buzz- a ker-chug, chug) dearest—(whang.it-a- bangawhanggggg) my _heart—(ker- chug, ker-chug, chug, clangngngngng) as long as I live—(ker-chug, ting-a- ling, whangita clangita bang) darling I—(whir-r-rrr, ker-chug, bur-r-r-rrrrr) (Aside, with much emphasis) Damn those infernal cars! Sue (blushing, looking down at her feet and leaning a fraction of an inth toward HE): Louder, please. The cars—(ker- chug, ker-chug-chug, burr-r-rrr) noise —(whizzz-z-z-zz2z, ker-chug, ker-chug, bangitabangwhang, burrrrrrr) I really —(bangwhantingalingwhan burrrrrrr) understand. HE (getting red in the face and bending slightly toward SHE, while his arm creeps farther along the back of the chair): II 822s. eee ‘a"a"a"a%a"a"a"e", Pau a”