Life, 1902-03-06 · page 7 of 22
Life — March 6, 1902 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Professional Jealousy" — Life Magazine Satire This cartoon satirizes **customs inspection procedures** at ports of entry, likely from the early 20th century. The scene shows a female customs inspector confronting a woman attempting to bring a worn fur cape through inspection. The humor lies in the inspector's jealousy: the woman hadn't registered the cape before leaving, so technically it requires duty upon return. However, the appraiser remarks the fur isn't real sealskin and is worthless—insulting the owner's possession rather than her deception. The accompanying text mocks how customs officials enforce trivial regulations, treating worn clothing as contraband. The "professional jealousy" refers to the inspector's petty enforcement of rules rather than genuine concern for tariffs.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
* LOPE* 187 valued the eape because it kept her warm on deck. She was not proud, or she would have frozen to an_ iceberg rather than wear it. Somebody said to the woman that she must have the cape registered before she left home, or it would be taxed on its return. She PROFESSIONAL JEALOUSY, Tive Comedian : rostroxep? L THOUGUT YOU AND MIs POSER WERE TO BE MaRnKiED THIK WEEK. war The Heaty: Gad, SiR! SHE ACTUALLY WANTS HER NAME TO APPEAR BEPORE MINE IN TIE WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT. Place aux Dames. id Daas little band of women who have petitioned the President for gentler treatment on the docks have earnest sympa- thizers throughout the Republic. For the past few years the peine forte et dure of the Custom House has been growing more and more unbearable, until a return to one’s native land is not unlike a disembarkation on the shores of the Styx, with Cerberus guarding the boat, and the Furies waiting sociably in the background. Insult and injury are the portion of the home-coming traveler, and the insult hurts more than the injury. It is bad to have one’s possessions strewn in the dirt; it is worse to be treated like a liar and a thief. It is bad to pay taxes on a trunkfulof old clothes ; itis worse to endure rude and offensive familiarity. There was a woman who had a fur—or what purported to be a fur—cape. It was a prehistoric garment, bearing the scars of long and honorable service. ‘The woman was a law-abiding person, so she sought and found, after prolonged search, the registry office. A supercilious young man cast one glance of scom at the thing she offered for inspection. ‘* That's not even real sealskin,” he said. “It isn’t worth registering!" The woman felt pained, but she had what slender comfort lay in having done her duty. She sailed for Europe, and she sailed for home, wrapped in the cape's dilapidated folds. An enterprising inspect discovered it, and asked, with visi- ble irony, if it were new. The woman explained. Registered?” asked spector. The woman explained again. Now the peculiar humor of the Custom House lies in intimating to all women that they 1 Therefore the inspector said, ‘You don't suppose I'll take your word for that, do you?” and sent for an appraiser. The appraiser was an- noyed when he saw the fur cape. He remarked severely—not to the inspector who had summoned him, but to the woman who hadn't, “That thing isnot seal. It is worth nothing. What do you want to show it to me for?" and went away in a very bad humor at the poverty of the woman's belongings. ‘The woman was not happy. She seemed to think she had not been treated politely, But then she was « strenuously truthful person, with a limited sense of the ridiculous, She failed to see the fun of the situation. Agnes Repptier, the in- “nouND coLorapo.”* “COLORADO 3 COLORADO CLARO} COLORADO MADURO.” comicbooks.com