Life, 1885-09-03 · page 3 of 16
Life — September 3, 1885 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 129 **The Cartoon "To the Point"** depicts a fashionably dressed woman on horseback near sailing boats, conversing with a man (Mr. Smith). The humor centers on naming conventions: the enthusiastic young lady asks what Mr. Smith will name his new yacht, assuming he owns boats named "Gracie" and "Fanny." Mr. Smith's deadpan response—that he'd name a new boat "Mrs. Elisha Smith" rather than adopt the common practice of giving ships feminine names—is the joke's punchline. The satire gently mocks upper-class conventions about boat-naming and the absurdity of defaulting to "pretty names" for vessels instead of meaningful personal references. The lower section contains humorous Texas anecdotes unrelated to the cartoon.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
TO THE POINT. Enthusiastic Young Lady: 1s THAT BOAT ERS—OR—OR THEIR FRIENDS, MR. SMITH? YES, GENERALLY AFTER THEIR FRIENDS, HAVE YOU A YACHT, MR. SMITH? No, BUT I AM BUILDING ONE NOW. . L.: AND WHAT IS HER. NAME? ~ Si: SHE HASN'T ANY. THE GRACIE, MR. SMITH? AND THAT THE FANNY? THAT LOVELY LONG, WHITE, THIN YACHT THE ILEEN? AND WHAT PRETTY NAMES! DO THEY NAME THEM AFTER SISTERS VERY SELDOM HAVE PRETTY NAMES. I THOUGHT OF CALLING HER AFTER YOU, IF YOU WOULD NOT BE ASHAMED < OH, HOW LOVELY! MY NAME IS ELIZABETH, YOU KNOW. WHAT WILL YOU CALL HER? Lizzie, OR BESSIE, OR JUST BESS? Mr. S. ELISHA SMITH. 1 DIDN'T THINK OF ANY OF THOSE NAMES. I THINK | WOULD RATHER CALL HER THE MRS. FROM TEXAS. HERE is a town in Texas where the heat is sometimes so great that it has been known to dry up a bottle of whiskey in less than five minutes. One day a dusky stranger entered the hotel, moistened his scorching throat, and then recommenced his journey. | However, after toiling about a hundred yards, the beneficial effects of the fluid subsided; at every step his knee-joints | creaked aloud for fresh lubricant. Accordingly, the weary pilgrim deposited his chattels on the sidewalk, limped pain- fully back to the bar, imbibed, and started again. When within ten yards of his belongings the desiccating action of the heat compelled him to return and once more moisten his aridity. Seven times did that persevering man start, and seven times was he constrained to retrace his stens. - Finally, seeing that it was useless to struggle against the force of Nature, he decided to remain at the hotel until the weather became cooler. While taking measures to replace the per- spiration he noticed that the thermometer registered 105°. “Guess you find business pretty brisk, just now,” he re- marked to the barkeeper. “No. Never been so slow afore. much while this cold snap lasts.” Don't expect to do ONE of the (in) delicacies of the season—“ Chatter,” at ‘Wallack's. A LONG FELT WANT—A new hat. THE POPULAR DEFINITION OF CASHIER—Cash some- where else.