Life, 1885-09-24 · page 12 of 16
Life — September 24, 1885 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page 180: "Hints for the Family" and America's Cup Coverage This page contains two distinct sections: **"Hints for the Family"** is satirical domestic advice offering absurd solutions to marital problems—hiding objects in a Bible, distinguishing twin babies by slitting ears or tattooing foreheads, and using poker chips to cure a wife's boredom. The humor targets Victorian gender roles and marital dynamics, mocking both husbands' incompetence (sewing with a tack-hammer) and wives' supposed manipulation. **The lower section** discusses the America's Cup yacht race between the American *Puritan* and British *Genesta*. The commentary, credited to J.K. Bangs, sarcastically suggests the British vessel needs American components—a Yankee hull, Massachusetts rudder, Vermont mast—to compete, implying American naval superiority. The tone is triumphantly nationalist, celebrating America's victory in this "greatest international event." The illustrated cartoons (credited "Le Figaro des Vacances") appear to be French satirical scenes, though their specific references are unclear from the image alone.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
180 HINTS FOR THE FAMILY. WIFE can generally hide any small object from her husband by putting it in his Bible. WHEN twin-babies are so very much alike that they cannot be readily dis- tinguished apart, the difficulty can be overcome by slitting the ears of one with a pair of scissors. Another plan is to tattoo a lizard in the forehead of one baby and an elephant in the fore- head of the other. A WIFE may often be cured of a lack of animation and general fedium vite with a few poker chips and a photograph of a pretty actress care- lessly worn in the husband’s vest- pocket. | A HUSBAND, in sewing a button on his trousers, will find that a small tack- hammer and a pair of tweezers, worked in scientific codperation with his teeth, will serve as a practical substitute for an ordinary thimble. A Goon way to name a new baby is to write a great many names on slips | of paper, shake them up in a hat, and take the top paper. If the name thus obtained does n’t suit, keep shaking the hat till you get a suitable one on top. If the baby is a boy, let the wife man- age the hat; but if it is a girl) let the husband manage it. This preraution should be taken to prevent “ stuffing " the hat, or any unfair manipulation of the returns, | THE best way to prevent the chil- | dren from playing with the cat is to swap the cat off for a goat. | WHEN a lady goes fishing, she should always fish without bait on her hook. This will keep her from getting | frightened and screaming whenever | she pulls outa fish, _/. 4, Macon. | i Le Figaro des Vacances. THE SPECTRE UNVEILED. better shape, but despite the efforts of the American bow- | sprit the English hull could not be pulled through the water | fast enough to head her Boston rival. There will, of course, be no third trial, the Purttan waiv- | ing this as a courtesy to the Genesta, as it would hardly be polite to be so unanimously victorious over a visiting craft. Sir Richard may regard the third and untried trial as a con- solation race, comforting himself with what might not have happened if it had been held. So closed the greatest international event of the time, and business will probably be resumed in the course of a week. The Genesta will probably lay in wait for some less homely and less interesting cup to carry homeward as a trophy of the occasion, but if Sir Richard hopes to win anything he must refit his vessel. What she needs most in. addition to the American bow- sprit is a Yankee hull, a Massachusetts rudder, a Vermont mast, nine owners and seven captains. This has been indubitably proven by the result of the con- test. J. K. Bangs. ALWAYS READY TO TAKE YOUR PART—An Indian. comicbooks.com