Puck — May 1877 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

The top illustration, titled "Love's Telegraph," presents a woman's face surrounded by small vignettes labeled as romantic "signals" and a "time table." These depict various flirting gestures—"Be Cautious!," "Yes!," "No!," "Never!!"—and meeting times ("at Two," "at Three," "at Four," "at any hour"). This satirizes the elaborate coded language women supposedly used to communicate romantic interest to suitors. The bottom cartoons address gender and class themes. "Boys Will Be Boys" shows a woman scolding a soldier about damaging plants, sarcastically suggesting boys need punishment. "A Cartoon Suggestion" depicts what appears to be a street scene involving a woman and multiple men, likely critiquing urban social dynamics or public behavior. The humor relies on period-specific courtship conventions and social anxieties about gender relations.