Life, 1905-09-07 · page 18 of 42
Life — September 7, 1905 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous story about a young man, Charlie Cashleigh, who attempts a romantic encounter with his sweetheart Celeste at her seaside cottage. The joke relies on physical comedy: every time Charlie tries to embrace or kiss Celeste, he accidentally triggers the cottage's structural collapse—floorboards spring up, bricks fall from chimneys, doors swing open, and the building rocks convulsively. The satire mocks both romantic melodrama and shoddy construction. The cottage is so poorly built that intimate gestures cause catastrophic failures. The punchline comes when Celeste's mother interrupts, sardonically suggesting Charlie take his romance to the beach where there's "firm foundation"—implying the cottage itself is the real obstacle, not propriety. The accompanying cartoons about Tom Mouser the cat and "Old Man Firefly" appear to be separate humorous anecdotes typical of Life magazine's format.
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A Shattered Dream. JS the moment drew near when Charlie Cashleigh was to visit his sweetheart in the cottage by the hat her father had hired for the summer, bis sense of pleasurable anticipation increased. “At last,’ she wrote, ‘‘we shall be entirely Salone, as papa is in town, and the rest of the family retire early, as the sea air makes them sleepy.” The happy day arrived, and after an afternoon of bath- ing, sand-digging and a short evening of conventional piazza chair-tipping, Charlie and Celeste were left alone in front room. All was silent except the sobbing of the distant sea, “Celest rrived when wi said Charlie, ‘‘ the moment has at | alone.” He leaned forward and took her hand. A board in the floor rose up and struck his chair. “Be careful, Cha everybody up.” “We are now," preparing to sit down beside her on the wicker sofa, e,"" said Celeste, ‘you will wake continued Charlie, choosing his w nd able to commune with each other in that rare and_ blissful manner that—"" As he settled down beside her the cottage moaned and “YES, TOM MOUSER IS A SMART CAT; LAST YEAR HE BOUGHT AN AUTOMOBILE, AND HE'S BEEN KILLED EIGHT TIMES AND HAD A HEAVY LIFE INSURANCE EACH TIME, HE IS VERY CAREFUL Now, THOUGH.” -LIFE- ATRL VOU WHAT IT 1S, EDENEZER, SOME PELLERS ARE BORN LUCKY, ANYMOW, NOW THERE'S OLD MAN FIREFLY PAID A PRINCELY SALARY BY THE GOVERNMENT JUST TO SLERP UP THERK IN THE TOWER, ned from top to bottom. Somebody overhead tossed rms about and it swayed from side to side. Celeste put her finger up. “Be careful,” she whispered. Charlie attempted to put his arm around her, but got the wrong combination, and a brick in the chimney rolled out and fell on the floor with a reverberating echo. Then he made an effort to kiss her, and the side with a series of unearthly creaks. Almost beside himself, the unfortunate lover, now thoroughly rattled, threw his arms about her, as if to save himself from some awful fate. The cottage began to rock and sob convulsively. with rare presence of mind, was attempting to dra of doors, when her mother, clad only ina pink Mother-Hub- bard and a candle in her hand, appeared in the doorway “Young man," she said severely, ‘if you want to m love to Celeste, go out on the beach where there isa firm foundation, but there’s one thing certain—you can't fidget here. ats loosened up oN, comicbooks.com