Life, 1913-03-13 · page 7 of 44
Life — March 13, 1913 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a lecture titled "Coming: A Lecture" that satirizes three Victorian social types: a **Pedestrian** (man standing upright), an **Actor** (well-dressed gentleman), and a **Clergyman** (religious figure). The satire mocks how members of these professions habitually adopt distinctive physical postures and mannerisms—the pedestrian's upright stance, the actor's theatrical gestures, the clergyman's peculiar conversational habits. The accompanying illustration shows two women, with one asking "Have you seen the ring he has given me? Not for a long time"—suggesting the clergyman's tendency toward repetitive, meaningless conversation. The joke ridicules how professional identity shapes not just behavior but personality itself, making these men predictable and somewhat absurd figures in polite society.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
(A Lecture) THE HORSE ADIES and Gentlemen: Here we have the horse, an animal once used as a means of locomotion and also for gambling purposes; also as an excuse once a year for all the women to get together in a large garden and dis- play their clothes. Take him away, Jake, and show us the PEDESTRIAN This young man, as you see, stands erect upon his feet, this posture having been a familiar one with our ancestors, who actually pro- pelled themselves forward by this unique method. And now we pass on to the ACTOR This is a really fine, bona fide speci- men known as a matinee idol. Twice a week and every evening he dressed himself in his best clothes and went through certain grimaces and contor- tions, which were viewed with great delight by large numbers of people, especially young girls. We come now to the CLERGYMAN Singular as it may seem, a large number of people, both men and women, were in the habit of hiring men like these to talk to them regu- larly upon the same subjects. The absurdity of the whole affair was that in no instance is it on record that they had the slightest idea of what they were talking about. AYSON: Say, doctor, did you pre- serve my appendix in alcohol? Doctor: No. Plain whiskey. That’s “HAVE YOU SEEN THE RING HE HAS GIVEN ME?” what it has been more used to. “NOT FOR A LONG TIME.” comicbooks.com