Life, 1909-10-28 · page 11 of 36
Life — October 28, 1909 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top illustration satirizes remarriage between a widow and widower. The caption calls it an "uncomfortable predicament" as the couple contemplates matrimony while surrounded by furniture and portraits—presumably from their previous marriages. The humor targets Victorian social anxieties about second marriages, suggesting that existing possessions and memories of first spouses create awkwardness. Below, "A Lap Behind" mocks fortune-telling, showing Madame Fakino conducting a séance-style consultation with a client. The detailed "reading" of the woman's age, weight, and possessions appears absurdly specific, satirizing fraudulent psychics who used cold-reading techniques to impress gullible clients. The character's name itself suggests fakery.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ARS WALKER = SHADES OF THE PAST UNCOMFORTABLE PREDICAMENT OF A WIDOW AND WIDOWER WHO CONTEMPLATE MATRIMONY questions put to her each aisle but one mber, I pass so have your ready. Now then (stepping n from stage) : Madame card? Twenty years old Good! tleman, White. Tell me this lady’s exact weight She is 52 years, 13 months, 38 days Fakino, what color is this Now give the age of this gen- 27 hours and 64 minutes And her ? One hundred eighty pouns What is this ring made of? It is round And its shape? Gold-plated. What number on this watch? Twenty minutes past four. And what time is it by the watch? No. 20264 How much money docs this purse con tain? Margaret Simmons Tell the name of its owner. Two dollars and thirty cents. What color is this man’s bair? Married, Is he single? No: haldheaded CApplause an astonishment—Curtain Exercise fg for physical exerci tionally injected into the budy lulgence in this useless stimulation, the Personality can do just as good work s well without such strained THAT statement won't wash, Pro f ssor, as it stands. exercise is not Physical a useless stimulation any more than food is, It is a nat- ural need. exercise is a habit that is wasteful of time and strength and fit to be compared with gluttony, though not so had, Dut or- dinary exercise, even if it s regul ixcessive is a very good and wholesome habit, You weaken your case, sir, when yor disparage it A CABINET MEMBER comicbooks.com