Life, 1915-11-11 · page 19 of 44
Life — November 11, 1915 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This domestic comedy cartoon depicts an engaged couple discussing when to inform her father of their engagement. The man (standing, in formal attire) wants to tell the father immediately, but the woman (seated) insists on waiting until after the wedding. Her reasoning reveals the satire's target: her mother fears her father's poor health cannot withstand the financial burden of a wedding. The joke satirizes the expense and stress of weddings as a financial crisis for fathers, who traditionally bore these costs. The woman's concern—that wedding expenses might literally endanger her father's health—exaggerates this anxiety into dark comedy. It's a commentary on class anxieties and the economic pressure of maintaining social appearances through expensive ceremonial events in early 20th-century America.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“DON’T YOU THINK, LILLIAN, IT WOULD GRATIFY YOUR FATHER IF I TOLD HIM AT ONCE?” “1 WOULD RATHER HAVE YOU WAIT UNTIL AFTER THE WEDDING, DEAR, MOTHER SAYS HIS MEPALTH IS POOK AND SHE FEARS JUST NOW TO ADD ANYTHING TO HIS FINANCIAL WORRIES.” comicbooks.com