Life, 1905-02-23 · page 1 of 22
Life — February 23, 1905 — page 1: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page shows results of a "Gibson Picture Competition"—Life magazine solicited reader submissions based on Charles Dana Gibson's popular illustrated style (featuring idealized "Gibson Girl" imagery). The main cartoon depicts "Little Miss Buffet" sitting on a tuffet, a reference to the nursery rhyme. The accompanying verse notes her fearlessness about the future despite encountering "a rough rider" who sits beside her. The "rough rider" reference likely alludes to Theodore Roosevelt, known by that nickname. The joke appears to satirize both the famous nursery rhyme and contemporary political figures through Gibson's characteristic drawing style. The ornate left border contains small circular vignettes in classical style, typical of Life's decorative design aesthetic of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LITTLE MISS MUPPET SAT ON A TUPFET, HER FEAR OF THE FUTURE WAS SMALL; ALONG CAME A ROUGH RIDER, WHO SAT DOWN RESIDE NER, AND SHE WASN'T FRIGHTENED AT ALL. comicbooks.com