Life, 1884-07-17 · page 11 of 16
Life — July 17, 1884 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Diving for Aniseseed" - Life Magazine Satire This page contains a poker game narrative satirizing racial stereotypes of the era. The text depicts three Black men—Mr. Whiffles, Reverend Mr. Smith, and Mr. Williams—playing cards with exaggerated dialect ("fo'teen dollahs," "jess calls"). The cartoon illustration shows a horse-and-rider taking a fence, captioned as related to "Francis Montmorency Grubb's fiancée" and his "first fence"—likely a separate, unrelated humorous item about equestrian mishaps. The poker narrative's humor derives from period racial caricature: depicting the players as superstitious, poor, and prone to reckless gambling. The climax—Whiffles winning with four nines after borrowing money from "the Professor"—plays on stereotypes of financial irresponsibility and trickery. The title "Diving for Aniseseed" remains contextually unclear but likely contains additional period-specific slang or reference.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
a een ass eee DIVING FOR ANISESEED. FROM AN INSTANTANEOUS PHOTOGRAPH BY FRANCIS MONTMORENCY GRUBB’S fiancée AS HE “TOOK” HIS FIRST FENCE, Mr. WHIFFLES stopped to think. By some singular acci- dent he had captured a fourth nine. It scared him nearly to death. “I—I jess—jess calls,” he said, putting up his last chip and a two-dollar bill he had secreted in his hat-band with a view to paying his house-rent. The Rev. Mr. SMITH now felt confident that Mr. WILLIAMS was weak. He drew out the famous wallet. “I rises dat fo’teen dollahs,” he said, leaning back and glaring at Mr. WILLIAMS. Mr. WILLIAMS hesitated, but the fact that he had struck it on policy that very morning made him rash. “T sees dat fo’teen, Brer THANKFUL,” he said, “an’ I swells dat pot fo’teen mo’.” Mr. WHIFFLES tiptoed out of the room, followed by the Professor. Fragmentary portions of the conversation reached the ears of the party from time to time, encouraging the suspicion that Mr. WHIFFLES was trying to borrow money. Two minutes silence, followed by a rustling, showed ‘that Mr. WHIFFLES had succeeded. : “I—I jess calls,” he said again, entering his subscription. “TI sees Toot’s rise,” said the Rev. Mr. SMITH, in a tone calculated to freeze that gentleman’s marrow, “an’ I rises it fo’teen mo’.”” Mr. WILLIAMS now began to feel that bluffing was out of reason. He had three sixes, but they were not worth a raise. “T jess—jess calls,” he said. Mr. WHIFFLES received a bundle of money secretly from the Professor under the table. He put it in the pot without a word. “Whad yo’ threes?” inquired the Rev. Mr. SMITH of Mr. WILLIAMS, savagely. “Sixes,” said that gentleman, gloomily. “Squeens,” said the Rev. Mr. SMITH. “ Mauds—ladies— is dey good?” he asked Mr. WILLIAMS. “Yezzah,” replied that gentleman. The Rev. Mr. SMITH raked the pot toward him. “ Beg yo’ pawdon,” interrupted the Professor. “Whad!” gasped the Rev. Mr. SMITH. Mr. WHIFFLES silently spead out his four nines. Then he fainted. Mr. JOHNSON lighted a sulphur match under his nose and | brought him to. The Professor meanwhile had swept the comicbooks.com Pr