Life, 1904-04-14 · page 9 of 20
Life — April 14, 1904 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon depicts a well-dressed couple in formal early 1900s attire. The man, wearing a top hat, appears to be reassuring the woman about life insurance, saying: "If anything should happen to me, dearest, you will be all right. I've just insured my life. But suppose nothing does happen to you?" This is a **life insurance advertisement disguised as humor**. The joke plays on the irony of insuring against death while remaining anxious about the future anyway. The cartoon satirizes the emerging insurance industry by showing how insurance salesmen used romantic domestic scenarios to sell policies to husbands worried about their wives' security. The "From Our Readers" section below contains letters addressing a previous cartoon about Southern racial attitudes and Ohio prejudice, indicating *Life* magazine's engagement with contemporary social commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Copyright, 1904, by Life Putiisding Co Shinflint : RIGHT. IF ANYTHING SHOULD HAPPEN TO ME, I'VE JUST INSURED MY LIFE. “RUT SUPPOSE NOTHING DOES HAPPEN To You?” Y DEAR LIFE: Thave been a con- stant reader of your magazine for over twenty years, and have always enjoyed it, and expect to continue to do so. [have also. considered impartial and just, therefore beg to bring to your notice an ex- ception. On page 310, March 31, you call attention to a reproduced drawing of * The Lynching Game of the Future" that was published August 5, 1897, under which “During recess the Southern boys of the next generation may indulge in this sort of fun,” After calling attention to this and a clipping from th York Times, giving an account of the fulfillment of the prophecy in Springfield, Ohio, on March 11, you add the following: “The prophecy has been you is written: fulfilled at an earlier date than predicted,” Why, in the name of justice, did you not apologize to the Southern boys, and compli- ment them on being so dackward that Olio got ahead of them in this original amuse- ment? Yours very sincerely, Arthur Skelton Wily. New York, March 30, 19¢4. D R LIFE: Having been a constant reader" of your paper for some time, you will pardon me if I say that you do the Southern people an injustice in your issue of March 31, page 310. Your cartoon says “Southern” school- boys, and the clipping appended is from Springfield, Ohio, which, thank God, is not in the South, While | am an advocate of law and order, yet if the Ohio negro is much like the speci- mens of that State's product that I have been unfortunate enough to meet, I can hardly blame the Springfield boys. Come down South (in Virginia or South Carolina) and live with usa while before you DEAREST, YOU WILL BE ALL write any more criticisms of our action with the negro. cerely, Dabney Lee, CLarki W.Va., March 30, 1904, Our correspondents are right. Lirr owes his Southern friends an apology, which is gladly offered. The mistake was made from a wish to leave un- touched the original wording. Foiled the Fairy. HE good fairy came to cater to the wishes of the deserving young man. “Mention your desire," suggested the good fairy, ‘and your slightest wish shall be granted.” “wish,” growled the young man, “that you'd get me a ten-cent maga- zine that hasn't fifteen or twenty pages of theatrical gossip in it.”” At that point the good fairy realized that it was up to her to get off the car, or stay until it reached the barns. comicbooks.com