Life, 1883-05-31 · page 11 of 16
Life — May 31, 1883 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page 261: Satirical Content Analysis This page from Life magazine combines reader correspondence with satirical advertisements and mock-classical poetry. The "Answers to Correspondents" section uses absurdist humor to mock reader questions—offering deliberately unhelpful or darkly comic advice (e.g., suggesting prussic acid to cure an Irish brogue, recommending "soap and spelling books" to kill Nihilists). The cartoon illustrations appear to depict caricatured figures in exaggerated poses, likely mocking contemporary social types or behaviors, though specific identities aren't clearly labeled. "Little Classics II" parodies children's nursery rhymes in pseudo-Latin, humorously mangling the original "Hey Diddle Diddle" with macaronic language and a footnote acknowledging intentional grammatical errors "to make the rhyme go." The fake advertisements mock various contemporary products and social concerns—including anti-fat remedies and job postings seeking domestic workers. The overall tone is satirical commentary on American society, advertising, and intellectual pretension, typical of Life's irreverent humor in this era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE: And some are replicas or mates. Done in their first or second states ; Many of them are Rembrandtesque, More are striking, most grotesque ; Some are in charcoal, some in chalk— All speaking likenesses—they talk ! And some bear pa’s or ma’s imprints In little stippled mezzotints ; While some of them, upon my word, Are pranked out like a checker-board, L'Exvol. You ask me for the moral, but There are none—in Conneciicut. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. ARPER.—(1.) Yes. your next. excellent. Lydia Pinkham is a good selection (2.) The title, “Types of American Reauty G) Yes, we will try our Influence with Susan B. H M. Vionaux.—(1.) Yes, the first ball should be struck first. (2.) Strike the ball simultaneously on top, underneath, and put the English on both sides, and you cannot fail to score. (.) Why did you miss that draw? Probably because, being a Frenchman, your knowledge of English is imperfect. ALEXANDER III.—To kill Nil books, Sure death. lists ?. Give them soap and spelling Benjamin S., Va/e.—It was undoubtedly a cold deck. Frepptt G. (1.) No, it is spelled Li-a-r. Lyre is a musical instru- ment, (2.) Would it be beneath you to notice him? Well, that de- pends. Ifhe is the larger, and has science to back his muscle up, we think it would. (3) Yes, people have been hurt in duels (this the correct spelling—not dewe/ls), and many have caught cold,while thus exposed. ‘0, the police will not interfere. They have no need to. Called you a ‘carpet knight,” did he? Well, .) What weapons should you choose? Try spelling books at four paces. (3) No, the President came to attend the open- ing of the Bridge, and not to try to act as mediator between you. 261 Cartaix Wittiams.—Yes, as you say, they are two silly little numskulls, trying tc make the community think they are men. Let them go ahead. “If their fists are as soft as their heads they can’t hurt tach other. Joux K.—To cure the brogue ? Take one cake of soap, two towels, abath, hala pound of Paris green and a spoonful of prussic acid. McCosn, Princeton.—(1.) For that purpose, Jamaica #s better than Santa rus. (2.) It was probably the lenon peel. LITTLE CLASSICS. M. HEU, diddle, diddle, Felis est in fiddle, Cowque supersaltabat the lunam, ‘The parvulus dog risit Videre such ludum Et dish concurrit cum spoonam,* WanTED strong, healthy and intelligent girl, Irish Catholic preferred, as governess to a religious parrot.—A. D., this office. —Adz. D. Davis’ Infallible Anti-Fat, at all drugg Adv. For Sate.—A large assortment of Gothic sentences, by the yard or piece, remnants of a speech on the Bridge. Address, William M. E., this office.—Ads ANTED—COL acquainted with RED MAN TO DRIVE DOCTOR, . 249 West — Street. * The grammar and declension are somewhat warped in this line to make the rhyme go. comicbooks:com