Life, 1884-01-24 · page 11 of 14
Life — January 24, 1884 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Train Boy" — Life Magazine Satire This is a satirical catechism (mock educational dialogue) mocking the "train boy"—a real figure on 19th-century American railways who sold refreshments to passengers. The cartoon shows a train boy hawking goods to a discomfited railroad director. The satire works on multiple levels: 1. **The goods are terrible**: described with mock-grandiose names ("Louis Quatorze gingerbread," "Pompeian sandwiches") to ridicule their actual poor quality and age. 2. **The business model is cynical**: the boy distributes cheap literature and food to passengers, who return the items worn-out, which he then resells at church fairs—profiting twice from worthless goods. 3. **Corruption runs deep**: the railroad director accepts this scheme because the road profits from it, demonstrating institutional complicity in fleecing customers. 4. **Dark humor about safety**: jokes about the food being actively dangerous ("figs too active," food from 1849 still potentially lethal) suggest railways prioritized profit over passenger welfare.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
> LI POPULAR SCIENCE CATECHISM. Lesson XVII.—The Train Boy. Ef MN 7nckelh — HAT is this? This, darling, is that perambulating and inexhaustible depot of supplies known as the train boy. And that quiet little gentleman who seems to be so un- comfortable ? He is a director of the road. Why, I thought he was a literary person. he get all those books ? They were given to him. By whom? The train boy. What are they? Where did The “Biography of Jesse James ;” “Red Handed | Bill, or the Terror of Texas ;” “ How to Win at Cards, | or the -Gambler’s Scrap Book ;’ “ Bunco Steering Made Easy ;” “ How to Mix Drinks ;” “The Slums ot New York” in g volumes, and “Every Man His | Own Burglar.” Why! What a nice lot of books? Very. And does the kind train boy give these books away to everybody ? Oh, yes. And what do the grateful passengers do? They look at the pictures, dog’s-ear the corners, and give them back again. Then what does the good train boy do? He hands round the aniediluvian bananas. FE - And then? He passes the Louis Quatorze gingerbread. Next? The peanuts of the renaissance. And then? The Pompeiian sandwiches and the figs which were brought over in the Ark. Gracious ! what will the passengers do with the figs? They tie a string to each of them. Why? To keep them from running away before the train | boy gets back. | But if the train boy does not come back soon? They will picket them out on the coal box, until they get warmed up and active. And then? Run them up and down the aisle. My ! that is good fun. Very good fun. Are not the passengers grateful to the good train boy Sor all these books and good intentions, figs and civilities, bananas and amusements ? Oh, yes ; they are so grateful they cannot think. Will they not take up a collection for him? No; he will take up the collection. What will it be? The novels, bananas and sandwiches he distributed. Oh! then he does not give them away? Certainly not. Why? Because nobody would take them as a gift. But in course of time the sandwiches will get ear- marked, and the bananas get too soft and rich, and the Jigs too active by constant handling ? Yes, dear. Then the good train boy will lose his little all? Not much. What will he do with his stock in trade? Sell it to a church fair. But you said the bald-headed gentleman whom the good | train boy has so loaded up is a director of the road! Yes, darling. Why, then, does he not stop this bombardment of the passengers with bad literature and bananas ! Simply because he is a director. Then the road makes money out of it? Certainly. Did the director ever eat one of the train boy's sand- | wiches ? I am certain he never did. What makes you so certain? | He still lives. Did the director ever sample any of the train boy's | gingerbread? | Oh, yes. | When? In 1849. Well, it is not going to kill him? He does not yet know. Why? Because his stomach is still struggling with it. comicbooks.com