The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Social Ladder

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Title: The Social Ladder

Author: Charles Dana Gibson

Release date: April 8, 2021 [eBook #65026]
Most recently updated: October 18, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images available at The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SOCIAL LADDER ***

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{1} 

THE SOCIAL LADDER

Drawings by

CHARLES DANA GIBSON



New York: R. H. RUSSELL London: JOHN LANE 1902 {2}

This is the seventh book in the regular series of Mr. Gibson’s published drawings, consisting of:

DRAWINGS BY C. D. GIBSONNo. 1
PICTURES OF PEOPLENo. 2
SKETCHES AND CARTOONSNo. 3
THE EDUCATION OF MR. PIPPNo. 4
AMERICANSNo. 5
A WIDOW AND HER FRIENDSNo. 6
THE SOCIAL LADDERNo. 7

Each book contains eighty-four of Mr. Gibson’s best cartoons, and all are uniform in size, shape and binding. Thanks are due Messrs. Mitchell & Miller for their co-operation in making this volume as representative and complete as possible.

Copyright by Mitchell & Miller
COPYRIGHT, 1902, BY ROBERT HOWARD RUSSELL

THIS book is published in Great Britain by especial arrangement with Mr. James Henderson, the proprietor of the English copyright of some of the drawings.

Printed in the United States of America, in July, 1902
Entered at Stationers’ Hall

{3} 

{5} 

{4}

{6}

THE SOCIAL LADDER

{7}

STUDIES IN EXPRESSION.

{8}

An Imitation of the lady of the house.

{9}

{10}

MRS. STEELE POOLE’S HOUSEWARMING.

She: “You don’t know what it is to love.”

“I don’t, eh? Haven’t I been to every play, read every popular novel in the last six months, got into debt hopelessly, had my appendix removed, {11}and all for your sake?”

Mr. Meeker doesn’t object so much to his wife’s entertainments as he does to the way she uses his room for the gentlemen’s things.

{12}

{13}

HIS REVENGE.

Time: Any morning at 4:15.

Mr. Meeker, having been kept up late for the last twenty years and rebuked for his lack of interest, develops a sudden enthusiasm. Mrs. {14}Meeker and the girls now do the waiting.

{15}

STUDIES IN EXPRESSION.

{16}

At a dramatic agency.

THE SONG OF THE DÉBUTANTE.

{17}

“Mother, dear Mother, come home with me now.”

THE TROUBLES OF THE RICH.

{18}

At the last moment, several who were invited send their regrets.

{19}

{20}

THE STORY OF HIS LIFE.

{21}

THE HEIRESS.

She cannot talk, she cannot sing,
 She looks a fright; but folks aver
 Ten millions have been set apart
 To talk and sing and look for her.

{22}

{23}

Mr. Grubbs walks in his sleep and appears for the first and only time at an entertainment in his own house.

{24}

{25}

WHY NOT

have plate glass fronts to the opera boxes? The occupants could still be seen, but not heard.

{26}

{27}

THE NEXT MORNING

Mrs. Innittor Dedd’s maid reads: “Among those present was Mrs. Innittor Dedd, whose lovely face and splendid figure were enhanced by a tiara of diamonds and three ropes of pearls. She wore her famous rubies and was even more regal than at the Bullyon’s ball the night before,” ETC., ETC.

{28}

{29}

ADVICE TO A HOSTESS.

Keep your entertainment within the mental grasp of your guests.

{30}

{31}

MODERN CELEBRITIES.

An interesting discussion between the author of “The Barrenness of Unkissed Kisses” and a famous dramatist.

{32}

WASTED ENERGY.

Professor Bung: A beauty? Well, perhaps she is.

Mr. Rattles: Why, man, haven’t you noticed the divine way she smiles?

“Oh, I’m not altogether unobservant. I have made a calculation, in fact, that the energy expended on her smiles, if scientifically applied, would run an automobile.{33}”

STUDIES IN EXPRESSION.

Showing that a man may be a hero in his own house.

{34}

{35}

PARASITES.

Basking in the golden sunshine.

{36}

OF COURSE THERE ARE MERMAIDS.

{37}

PLENTY OF GOOD FISH IN THE SEA.

{38}

{39}

HIS CHRISTMAS GIFT.

{40}

{41}

A SUGGESTION.

For ill-assorted pairs.

{42}

{43}

Mrs. Katcham prides herself on always having the latest celebrity at her house. To-night it is no less a personage than “Gouger.”

{44}

{45}

STUDIES IN EXPRESSION.

While Uncle Joe has his tie fixed.

{46}

{47}

A CROOKED TALE.

There was a crooked man,
 Who made a crooked deal,
 And got a crooked fortune
 By a very crooked steal;
 He had a crooked wife,
 With a very crooked name,
 And now they live apart
 In very crooked fame.

{48}

He: You promised to be my pupil and learn to love me.

“But it makes such a difference when your heart isn’t in your work.{49}”

THE AMBITIOUS MOTHER AND THE OBLIGING CLERGYMAN.

{50}

{51}

FROZEN.

{52}

WHERE IGNORANCE, ETC.

“Where did you go on your wedding trip?”

“That’s what I’ve been wondering.{53}”

STUDIES IN EXPRESSION.

While a Spanish-American hero describes the horrors of war.

{54}

{55}

THE MERRY-GO-ROUND.

{56}

THE BROKER RINGS UP HIS GIRL.

“Hello! Hello! Big strike in Consolidated Catamount—can marry—want three days’ option hand and heart.”

She: Will give refusal.

{57}

ANOTHER MOTH.

{58}

{59}

THE ENTHUSIAST WHO INSISTS UPON SHOWING YOU HIS ESTATE.

{60}

{61}

STUDY IN EXPRESSION.

While the hostess whispers to Jones, “Remember, now, we are counting on you to make us laugh.”

{62}

{63} 

{64} 

{65}

ONE OF THE DISADVANTAGES OF BEING IN LOVE WITH AN ATHLETIC GIRL.

{66}

{67}

Pillsbury does not care for society, but his wife will not go without him.

{68}

{69}

WHY SOME CHILDREN DIDN’T GET THEIR PRESENTS.

{70}

{71}

ALAS! THE VOICE OF HIS FIANCÉE.

{72}

{73}

STUDIES IN EXPRESSION.

The author and the soubrette.

{74}

{75}

THE HALF ORPHAN.

“Mamma will be down in a minute.{76}”

{77}

“UNLUCKY AT CARDS, LUCKY IN LOVE.{78}”

{79}

WHEN A MAN’S IN LOVE.