Life, 1884-11-27 · page 15 of 16
Life — November 27, 1884 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page combines fashion/commercial advertising with a satirical cartoon about roller-skating safety. The central cartoon depicts a man in formal dress losing control on roller skates, flailing dramatically as he careens across a floor. Smaller vignettes around him show various skating mishaps—people falling and tumbling in different poses. The satire targets the roller-skating craze sweeping America in the 1880s by humorously warning of its dangers. The caption reads: "Right in the height of the roller-skating season we wish to warn everybody to insure before it is too late." This introduces the page's actual purpose: advertising the United States Mutual Accident Association, which sold accident insurance. The joke positions roller-skating as so hazardous that insurance is urgent. The advertisement below claims the association is "the largest, cheapest and best institution of its kind," offering coverage for $5 annual membership plus $13/year for death or injury protection. The page thus uses contemporary leisure-activity anxiety to market insurance—a common Victorian advertising strategy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE: “BY SPECIAL es R E D F E R Nic : uf LADIES’ TAILOR, Majesty A Osa FIFTH AVENUE, OPPOSITE MADISON SQUARE. 242 RUE DE RIVOLI, PARIS, 26 CONDUIT ST., LONDON, COWES, ISLE OF WIGHT. The Most Noted Firm of Ladies’ Tailors in the World. (And be it Said) the Most Original. Extract “Court Jourwat.'” Lendl, HOSIERY. Ladies’ White and Colored French Cashmere Hosiery, Plain and Ribbed. A special importation of ‘* Camel's Hair,” also fleeced lined Raw Silk Hose. Boys’, Misses’ and Children's Black and Colored heavy ribbed French aud English Woolen Hosiery. Velvet, Cloth and Worsted Gaiters, all sizes, Broadway L 1 9th él. NEW YORK. $$$ 0 ae erat Bik tle thea BA Wenancork & bos crNTemnnuun, GUNS, LY CHRISTMAS GIFT. fe) "017, 5 f2 AERUT OF TSMC RTE IEASD Ms Gowibieg vive and preity. ce cur prods i every boos led aby boy or gil Free wil oe ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN. ‘They may happen to YOU. They are happening every day to thousands of people and in | thousands of different ways—from the railroad collision to the treacherous banana-peel. You cannot prevent accidents, but you can insure against them in the UNITED ES | MUTUAL ACCIDENT ASSOCIATION of New York, the largest, cheapest and best institution GEORGE MATHER’ of its kind in the world. $5.00 will make you a member, and about $13.00 a year will carry a policy that guarantees to those having a preferred occupation $5000 in the event of death by accident, or PRINTING $25.00 per week in case of disabling injury. No professional or business man can afford to be without accident insurance when so small an ‘ 5 outlay secures so large an indemnity in the event of serious accident, at a time when most needed. 60 Joun St., New York. For further particulars send for circular and application blank to the Association, 320 and 322 | Broadway, New York CHAS, B. PEET, President. JAMES R. PITCHER, Secretary, ACME This paper is printed with our cut ink. WRUS VORRF DNRCEKRMRER «_