Life — September 21, 1905 — page 17: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page presents a series of cherub illustrations labeled with Bridge card game terminology. Each drawing depicts a baby or cupid in situations that pun on Bridge vocabulary: - "Established Suit" shows cherubs in formal wear - "I Pass It to My Partner" depicts one cherub handing something to another - "Satisfied" shows a cherub relaxed in a chair - "Adrift," "Doubling," "Honors," "Dummy," and "A Short Suit" feature cherubs in corresponding scenarios The satire mocks Bridge, an enormously popular card game among American society in the early 20th century. By applying serious Bridge terminology to whimsical cherub scenarios, Life magazine gently satirizes the game's complexity and the social pretension surrounding it. The humor relies on incongruity: babies enacting sophisticated card-game concepts.