A Surprise
1907
Fernand Louis Gottlob, a master of French humor illustration, serves up a delicious visual punchline in this 1907 sketch titled 'Une Surprise.' We see a chic young woman behind a desk looking calmly at a bewildered, bearded gentleman in a long coat. The handwritten caption at the bottom reveals the twist: she apologizes, saying, 'I beg your pardon Sir, Madame had forgotten to tell me she had a new gigolo.' The joke lands perfectly because the 'new gigolo'—usually expected to be a young, dashing lover in the slang of the Belle Époque—is clearly this stuffy, older academic type. It’s a classic subversion of expectations, capturing the witty, satirical spirit of early 20th-century French magazines like Le Rire.
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