Life, 1884-07-03 · page 12 of 16
Life — July 3, 1884 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page Analysis This page contains three satirical pieces typical of 1880s American humor: **Main Cartoon**: A "Coquettish Western lady" speaks French to a foreign gentleman, saying "Fie donc, monsieur! Ce n'est pas propre!" (roughly "That's not proper!"). The satire mocks American women who affected French sophistication and moral prudishness while often behaving hypocritically. **"Anecdote of the Campaign"**: Political satire about an Independent voter threatening to "bolt" (abandon) James G. Blaine. A Republican operative tricks him by exploiting the double meaning: "bolt" also means "swallow without chewing." The joke satirizes independent voters as easily manipulated dupes. **Other Items**: Brief jokes about vanity (tight shoes), Professor Sullivan's temperance work against "John Barleycorn" (alcohol), and social pretension (a floor-walker's painful hairstyle). The humor assumes readers understood 1884 election references, French affectations among the wealthy, and working-class social climbing—all now-obscure contexts.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Coguettish Western lady (somewhat proud of her French) to distinguished CE N’ EST PAS PROPRE! foreigner: FIE DONC, MONSIEUR! HERE is a story going about of a lady whose hus- band had a very small foot, of which he was extremely proud. She encouraged his vanity, so that every time he bought tighter and tighter shoes. It was ex- cruciating pain to go about in | them, but he would not confess | it. However, when he reached home in the evening his slippers were such a welcome relief that it was a difficult matter to induce him to go out after dinner. From a great club man he be- came noted for his domestic habits." His wife smiled, but said nothing. Think of having a wife who was capable of smiling and saying nothing! P. R. ITEM.—Having success- fully knocked out Slade and Mitchell, Professor Sullivan is now doing his best to down John Barleycorn—with what re- sult it is not difficult to deter- mine. AWAITING confirmation — The report that all the high cock-eye-lorums of the country will support B. F. Butler. ANECDOTE OF THE CAMPAIGN. “c ES, sirree,” said the Independent, “I ain’t no servile critter. I’m a going to bolt Blaine!” “Indeed,” said the machine man, “Going to bolt, eh ! How do you spell it, B-O-L-T ?” “You bet I spell it with a B-O-L-T with a capital T, too!” “Oh, well if that ’s the way you spell it I’m glad you're going to Bolt Blaine, because otherwise it would be unpleas- ant for the Plumed Knight.” And the Machine man chuckled, while the Independent with an anxious far-away look in his eye hurried home and got out his Edstion de luxe of Webster unabridged, in which he read: BOLT, v.t., to swallow without chewing. When he recovered he went out and took the stump for the G. O. P. J. K. B. As the hot weather approaches, a man’s collar and choler both grow uncomfortable. PHYSICAL OR MENTAL. “ ii ’Sapity he does that,” said Miss Sophonisba De Montmorenci to Mr. John Brown, the bluff superin- tendent at Messrs. Fine & Coarse’s great mazson de dry goods on Broadway, and alluding to Augustus Le Smythe, the ele- gant floor-walker, upon whom she gazed with unaffected admiration. : “ You mean part his hair in the middle?” said Brown. “Of course,” answered Sophonisba. “ It ’s painful.” “Oh! he don’t mind it. The house considers it in his sal- ary, and it really don’t hurt him much. He uses asoft brush and a towel, and does it without using chloroform.” Sophonisba looked puzzled, and said no more. THERE is a warning in the honeycomb. It is, bee-ware? Boston ships tracts to one part of India, and wooden idols to another part. There is nothing sectarian about Boston. comicbooks.com