Life, 1904-09-29 · page 6 of 20
Life — September 29, 1904 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains satirical content about the St. Louis World's Fair (early 1900s). The main cartoon depicts well-dressed men and women at what appears to be the fairgrounds, with a caption about a daughter asking for her suitor's hand in marriage—a joke about marriage prospects and social climbing at the fair. The "In Forma Pauperis" section satirizes how the Fair's financial success contrasts with poverty among working Americans. It mocks entrepreneurs pitching dubious schemes (like grease-eliminating frying pans) to fair visitors, and jokes about a Philadelphia store's gimmick of using community voting to elect "guests" to St. Louis—poking fun at commercialism disguised as democratic participation. The lower cartoon appears unrelated, featuring roosters and a domestic joke ("Madam, you have deceived me").
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
300 Our Fresh-Air Fund. Previously acknowledged. Wand «0... C.W. Bowman.......seee Prescott, Benjamin and Willis Childs, $7,031.03 Important. IRST PLAYWRIGHT: I just written a problem play Secoxp Prayweicut: What is the problem ? “‘How to make any money out of it.” ? “ \VOUR daughter, sir, has asked for my hand. “Well, young man, do you think you come within her allowance?” In Forma Pauperis. ‘ORD comes wafted to our Eastern coast that the at- tendance at the St. Louis Fair is smaller than might be reasona- bly expected ; that financial depres- sion and the anxieties inseparable from a Presidential campaign are holding back the great American public, and that our European neighbors—unless appointed to an educational congress —are seemingly unaware of the opportunity that is being offered to them. But what of the people whom the enterprising methods of the adver- tiser have sent in shoals to St. Louis? What of the young man who has collected the biggest number of tributes to the excellence of a foun- tain pen, warranted not responsible Copyright. 1905. by Life Pubtioning Mr, Rooster; MADAM, YOU HAVE DECEIVED ME. MY DEAR, HOW CAN YOU MARRY A MAN SO MUCH TALLER THAN You?” “BUT, MAMA, AFTER WE ARE MARRIED HE WILL GET for profanity ; and of the young woman who has persuaded hundreds of house- wives to affirm that a patent frying-pan elimi- nates grease, or that a new breakfast food is more palatable and nourishing than “gravel? What of the boy who has worried his father’s customers into subscribing for a periodical they do not want, and of the girl who has sold seven hundred copies of *“‘Amanda’s House- HORTER ALL THE TIME.” keeping; or, How to Live Heartily on Nothing’? These pioneers of progress, and many like them, have all received trips to the Fair, as rewards of their industry, and are enjoying themselves in an intelligent manner at the ex- pense of a large-hearted, feeble-minded public. The most ingenious device has been adopted by a Philadelphia department store, which advertises itself as inviting twenty Philadelphia clergymen to go as its ‘guests’? to St. Louis, These reverend gentlemen are to be elected by the votes of the community, every patron of the store—no matter how small his purchase—being entitled to a comicbooks.com