Life, 1905-06-15 · page 21 of 32
Life — June 15, 1905 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**The Main Cartoon ("A Heavenly Honeymoon"):** The central illustration depicts a couple on their honeymoon, gazing at the moon and stars in a romantic nighttime scene. The satire lies in the caption and the contrasting text on the right: while the image suggests romantic bliss, the accompanying story undermines it entirely. The husband brags about riding 200 miles despite exhaustion—prioritizing masculine achievement over romance. The joke satirizes how newlyweds, particularly men, fail to maintain civility and attention to their wives. The final text explicitly states couples lack "the finer strain" of civility needed for constant intimate association, suggesting marriages deteriorate quickly from their idealized "heavenly" beginnings. **"A New Idea":** A wealthy philanthropist struggles to give away money fast enough. A correspondent suggests endowing a home for "decrepit millionaires who have given away all their money"—satirizing the era's wealthy philanthropists (likely referencing figures like Andrew Carnegie) and the contradiction of their compulsive charitable giving despite personal excess. Both pieces mock 1910s-era attitudes toward wealth, romance, and social obligation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A HEAVENLY HONEYMOON, 743, Pride. IS nose and throat were full of dust, His eyes were running red ‘suffer, but to-day I rode Two hundred miles,” he sand A New Idea. “ HAT are the sugge tions for the day?” The greatest philanthropist of the age turned anxiously to his private secretary. “ Remember,” he said, half severely, “we must give away ten millions more before the week is over. I simply can't stand it to have money accumulate in this reckless manner, We must. get rid of it. The secretary did not immediately “Tam afraid it's hopeless," said the The old sailors are all. smoking dollar cigars. ties are storing bonds in barrels in th cellars. } s light- ing up. ) “T have, indeed,” sa private secretary. “Have no f will be well. Here's a man who has given me a clue.” And with a glad smile of relief, the philanthropist read from some unknown correspondent as follows : “Why not endow a good comfortable home for decrepit millionaires who have ven away all their money ?”” have sufficient along with our neigh- bors, but not cnough to get along wi wives. We are at be civil to those we meet only now and then, but we have not as yet acquired the finer strain which should make us able to be civil to those with whom we are constantly and inti- mately associated. In word, we are only about half civilized. comicbooks.com