Life, 1902-10-02 · page 3 of 22
Life — October 2, 1902 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 277 This page presents October seasonal content with two distinct elements: **Main Illustration**: A decorative art nouveau-style header featuring a woman's face surrounded by autumn imagery—bare trees and landscape scenes. The design emphasizes the fall season's arrival. **"Autumn" Essay**: A prose piece celebrating the season's characteristics—falling leaves, animals preparing for winter, increased urban activity (tailors working, furnaces warming). It's sentimental, descriptive writing typical of early 20th-century magazine content. **"To the Clan with a Bill"**: A short poem with social commentary, appearing to critique wealth inequality ("How Pyramids, sublimely tall, / Evolve themselves from bricks") and monetary systems. **"No Better Off"**: A brief humorous dialogue about a poor man (Robinson) unable to provide for his wife despite her working harder than ever—social satire on economic hardship and labor. The page blends seasonal nostalgia with subtle class-consciousness commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Autumn, UTUMN is here. Forests are blush- ing down to the roots of their trees. Leaves are deserting their parent stems. All the little insects are being tucked up to sleep under the grass. Chipmunks are busy with fall honse- cleaning, and are laying in their winter suppli Bears are getting drowsy. The ozone is getting ready for business. The north wind is practicing his annual whistle, Cities are beginning to bustle. Streets are being congested. Tailors are sitting up nights, and dressmakers are having a trying time. Autumn is here. Footballs are being sadly treated. College campuses are keeping late hours. Sweaters are beginning to stretch themselves. Sofas are creaking with a double weight. Grate fires and lovers’ lips are crackling. Back parlors are in use again. Flies are no more. Gas metres are beginning to hum, and coal bins to ebb and flow. Furnaces are warming up. Only the moths are disconsolate. Autumn! Knots are being tied. Honeymoons are being dreamed through, All the birds are flying south and all the buds are coming north. Beaches are all alone, and all the flats are loaded. Autumn is here and Christmas in sight, while Cupid laughs to himself and says: « All seasons look alike to me.” Tom Masson, To the Man with a Bill. HINK—you that deem this tribute small Because unmultiplied by six— How Pyramids, sublimely tall, Evolve themselves from bricks. The tiny spark precedes the blaze ; Light chances grow to vast events ; The Ages fatten on the days— So, dollars rise from cents. Take this—expend it well, nor grieve Ungrateful, for the small amount ; Rejoice and sing, that you receive A sum upon account. FD. No Better Off. s OOR Robinson! He couldn't make a living, and married a woman with money.”’ “But isn’t he all right now?" “Hardly. She is so close with it that he has to work harder than ever.” comicbooks.com