Life — November 12, 1914 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is a satirical cartoon from *Life* magazine (page 841) depicting a domestic scene where a woman reclines on a couch while a man stands nearby. The caption reads: "POSSESSION IS NINE POINTS OF THE LAW, ETC., ETC., BUT IT IS A BORE TO HAVE PATTY FURBER ALWAYS CALLING UP MARGE JUST WHEN—" The joke satirizes the legal principle that possession is "nine points of the law" by applying it absurdly to personal relationships. The humor turns on a woman (apparently "Patty Furber") constantly interrupting her friend "Marge" at inconvenient moments—likely when Marge is with her romantic interest. The cartoon mocks how the legal concept of possession proves meaningless in social situations, where someone's claim on another person's time can be frustratingly asserted through persistent phone calls.