Life, 1908-07-16 · page 11 of 26
Life — July 16, 1908 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon depicts a man in formal evening wear frantically fleeing, carrying a newspaper headlined "384 DEGREES IN THE SHADE OF THE YALE ARMS." The caption reads: "YOUNG MAN, YOU SHOULD HAVE 384 KICKS CONFERRED IN THE SHADE OF YOUR COAT TAIL." This appears to satirize extreme heat and discomfort during summer in New Haven, Connecticut (Yale's location). The exaggerated temperature and the man's panicked flight suggest mockery of how unbearably hot the weather was—so intense it's literally chasing him away. The page also contains a poem titled "A Revolutionary Miniature" by Clinton Scollard about a woman, plus a domestic comedy sketch and an illustration of cats at bottom. The overall theme concerns summer weather and social inconveniences of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“YOUNG MAN, YOU SHOULD HAVE 384 KICKS CONFERRED IN THE SHADE OF YOUR COAT TAIL” A Revolutionary Miniature EN gentlemen in blue and buff From jeweled boxes took their snuff, With brush of frill and flick of ruff, ‘And bows most stately, Upon them must this winsome maid, Whose eyes have a celestial shade, In satin or in flowered brocade, Have smiled sedately. Within her hair there hides a hint Of gold new-fashioned from the mint; Her curved lips wear a vermeil tint; Her ear is tiny; Her cheeks have just the crimson glow That hale October loves to show Ere flies the earliest flake of snow, And airs are winy. Romance!—it harbors in her face— Her throat half hid in snowy lace; Her head poised with patrician grace; Her whole air sprightly; No doubt the fan within her hand Was far more potent in command ‘Than any dreaded wizard’s wand, ‘Though brandished brightly. Can one not fancy how she trod The minuet? Her lightest nod Making a gallant feel a god At least a minute. Or till she gave her dainty glove Unto a rival swain in love; Then knew the first the sting thereof — ‘The bitter in it! Divine, albeit half demure, ‘The maiden of this miniature Upon one’s heart works such a lure ‘That time seems cruel! O to have lived beneath the sun ‘That her adorers looked upont O to have wooed! O to have won And worn this jewel! Clinton Scollard. Just Before Scene: At Home. Discovered: A husband and wife, HE: Dear! helping me? He (all ready fifteen minutes before. He has just finished brush- ing his evening clothes and is now looking over the stock report in the evening paper and smoking a cig- arette): What do you want? (Her mouth full of hairpins.) “Button up this waist, will you?” (Throwing down paper.) “Where is the maid?” “Now, dear, you know this is her afternoon off. Hurry (Getting up and walking over back of her. Hetakes hold of waist at top and starts on top button.) “What's the matter with these buttons, anyway?” (Sweelly.) “Now, don’t lose patience. They slip right in if” — “How do you suppose I can get the thing together when you're squirming like an eel?” (Screwing her head from one side to the other, absorbed in getting her hair right.) “You can do it.” (Savagely.) “Look here! You keep still! Now, I've got to begin all over. (He starts in, his face knotted up in agony and working frantically gets three buttons in.) Now! Now! Don’t move, I say! There! That’s better. Hold on! I've got ’em going! Keep still! Don’t you dare move! There!” “Finished?” “Yep.” (Standing up.) “Oh, you wretch. Don’t you see?” —— “What the devil is the matter now ?” “Why, don’t you see, can’t you see, that you've started wrong? It’s all got to be done over.” “Dammit! at home.” Do you mind What’s the use? We'll stay Meliese: WHAT PARTY WILL YOU TAVOR Dt THE APPROACHING CAMPAIGN? Sirifed Cat: OM, 1 EXPECT TO REMAIN “ON THE TEXCE,"” AS USUAL! comicbooks.com