Puck, 1878-06-12 · page 5 of 16
Puck — June 12, 1878 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical comic strip mocks the aspirations of middle-class city dwellers seeking rural retreats. A couple, enchanted by glowing advertisements promising a "Balmy Air" and "Lake of Heavenly Blue," purchase what appears to be a ramshackle country property. The humor escalates through successive panels: their "desirable residence" proves dilapidated; neighbors appear hostile; the advertised lake is a muddy swamp; and the "murmuring trees" produce only eerie sounds. The satire targets both deceptive real-estate marketing (common then as now) and the naive romanticism of urbanites seeking pastoral escape. The comic illustrates how idealized advertisements contrast starkly with disappointing reality—a theme of enduring relevance to property buyers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
PUCK. THE DESIRABLE COUNTRY RESIDENCE. ‘Twas a Desirable Country Res‘dence, Ie read the glowing advertisement Now not a day was ended— All in the Gothic style, ‘That told of the lovely view, Not a day but only three— Whercof to his darling little wife ‘The charactair of the Balmy Air When they started out for the station— With an ecstatic smile By a Lake of Heavenly Blue. ‘That man and his little wilie, All for to see that Mansion With its Sanitary Atmosphere, Its Orchard neat, and its lakelet sweet Of Azure crystal clear. Behold them there arrive—- «This be their Country Residence!” ‘That man and his wifi:— He said with a stony glaire: ‘They appear in the act of receiving a blow «Let us hie away, and seek, I pray, ‘To their credulitee. For their Blithe and Balmy Air!" They hied them away to seek it, “Now this be their balmy ether! They found that Sheet of Azure— “That air so Balmy~ but I’ faith, ‘us too balmee! ‘Now ashamed to write I am— The extent of their discoveries Yet do not speak, for it’s going to seck * But the Balmy Breeze, through the murmuring trees, Is visible in the cut, ‘That Azure Lake I be!” Bore a mystic sound like—** Maria! A * This is your Desirable Country Residence! comicbooks.com