Life, 1903-04-09 · page 13 of 22
Life — April 9, 1903 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon depicts a man in formal dress holding a tiny bride aloft—satirizing a recent high-society wedding that required a "floating chapel" on international waters. The bride had accumulated so many divorces under New York law that she couldn't remarry on land; the groom faced legal consequences if he entered the state's jurisdiction. The satire mocks the wealthy elite's ability to circumvent laws through technicalities, and ridicules the ceremony's scandalous details: serving alcohol and cigarettes during services, and the bride performing a "cake-walk recessional" specifically to display her lingerie—presented as if this was a novel, shocking fashion innovation. The cartoon's title, "The U.S. Senate in Session," appears to reference the man as a senator, suggesting Congress operates with similarly self-serving disregard for rules. The accompanying pieces ("Vindication," "A Mistake," "Trick for Trick") appear unrelated satirical vignettes about religion, military imposters, and international conflict.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
329 A Wedding. HE wedding was solemnized in a floating chapel built for the occasion. This clever ruse was made necessary by the bride having only limited divorces @ which did not permit her to marry again anywhere except on the high seas, and also by the groom not daring to come within the jurisdiction of the courts of New York. His effulgence, the extremely right reverend bishop of the diocese, conducted the ceremony, and was never more felicitous, When he pronounced the benediction on the kneeling pair, the aristocratic congregation were deeply affected, and cheered loudly. The bishop thanked them feelingly in behalf of himself and Jehovah. Daring theceremony the ushers passed highballs and cigarettes, a chic innova- tion especially welcomed by the younger women present, who were not accus- tomed to sitting so long without drinking or smoking. Another new feature was the cake- walk recessional, When it seen to what advantage this enabled the bride to display her exquisite lingerie, great surprise was expressed that nobody had thought of it before. THE U. 8, SENATE IX SESSION. Vindication. HE Korean merchant coming over to America to get idols made for his heathen cus- tomers is a thorongh, albeit late vindication of Christianity against the aspersions of the Demetrius who persuaded the silversmiths of Ephesus that Paul's religion would hurt their business, We have no reason to feel ashamed of our religion, from the point of view of trade. Vastly more money has been made by Christians than by the adherents of any other religious system. A Mistake. 7 EW ARRIVAL: I, sir, was a TRICK FOR TRICK Brigadier-General in the Amer- “acu! DERTEUPEL! HE THINKS TO PLAY US ican Army ! ONE THICK. POR IP WE BOOT IttM NOW, WEMCST ae i & DESCEND FIVE THOU8AND FEET TO’ Ort ms Sr. Peter: This is no place for hrnmne.” iti “LET Us POOL HIM, HANS, BY NOT SHOOTING political refugees. ‘eat ate comicbooks.com