Life, 1905-03-02 · page 16 of 44
Life — March 2, 1905 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
These two cartoons contrast public perception of Theodore Roosevelt's 1901 inauguration with the private reality of being a houseguest. **Left cartoon** ("The Inauguration As It Reached Him"): Shows an enormous crowd at the Capitol, depicting the public spectacle and mass enthusiasm surrounding Roosevelt's inauguration—the ceremonial grandeur as it appeared in news coverage. **Right cartoon** ("The Inauguration As It Appeared From Home"): Shows an awkward domestic scene where a woman nervously entertains guests while a man stands aloof, illustrating the disconnect between public celebration and the mundane, often uncomfortable reality of hosting during major events. The accompanying text suggests tension between performing hospitality (maintaining the "illusion" for guests) and authentic feeling. The captions reference "Teddy" (Roosevelt's nickname) and imply anxiety about the inauguration's impact on everyday life. The satire critiques the gap between national pageantry and personal domestic strain—how monumental public events create pressure and discomfort for ordinary people caught in their wake.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE INAUGURATION AS IT REACHED HIM. room, and while we are rehabilitating ourselves, we can feel him Noating around ready to spring the slightest: imtimatior 1 re to aid and comfort Vhere can is glad to sce us. Her smile of we ae. The very nervous of her manner, as she ches the servants out the is in itself e ers of her eye for our happiness. She endeavors 4 kes with an assumption of pl which we know to be a deep camestness; and we | ket worried at once desir mitahle to 1 our host and ho unless they cen find s And so, with a sort of hopeless ir s driven to it, we search around ple at their case t help but love desire for our whole affair he these good people. P THE INAUGURATION AS IT APPEAREO FROM HOME WAST WELL RECED on, You over TO NAVE SEEN TEDDY AND THE LY TREMULE WHEN E THINK OF RE PT WOULD HAVE BEEN IF EMADN'T Coxe.” ROVEM KIDERS FALLING Rowe, 1 FAL . even if it does keep us on the qui ive flattery, We are us, We must make t z us the best time we ever had. itself a vi mis, to be sure, a strain, but we owe it lo thi At times there e to us flashes 1 away—to re we can whoop free—and then we e ourselves for t for somehow they seem to argue a certa » those who really love us. So we go on acting until the hoar comes to leave. and we protest in onr eyes that we never have had such a good at we are already looking forward to the next ith fiery impatience. Surely, could a lie be more than this one? On the other hand, how different is the manner of an- with tears time, and t host, to whom the word hospitable never seems to have occurred, He, too, meets us at the door; he, too, shakes us by the hand. And yet. even as he does this, in some subtle and unconscious manner, he makes us feel comicbooks.com