Life, 1886-04-29 · page 4 of 16
Life — April 29, 1886 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 242 This page contains humorous short pieces and social commentary typical of Life's satirical style, rather than political cartoons requiring historical context. The main cartoon depicts a disheveled figure emerging from a flowerpot, labeled "THE FL-W-RS THAT BL-M IN THE SP-NG, TRA LA" — a play on the nursery rhyme, with vowels removed for comic effect. This appears to mock Victorian sentimentality about spring. The right-side column "THE OTHER SIDE" presents quick jokes about urban life: satirizing bohemian poverty (discussing shabby clothing), mocking high-end luxury goods (Tiffany's scent bottles), and poking fun at various social types and their pretensions. The remaining pieces mock government inefficiency, labor relations, and middle-class aspirations through brief, witty observations—characteristic of Life's general-interest humor rather than commentary on specific contemporary events.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SIGNS OF THE TIME. OW the rich man hies away, hies away, To the country bright and gay, bright and gay ; For 't is near the first of May And he can no longer stay, Or high taxes he must pay Here in the town, And the young man catches cold, catches cold, Putting on his thin spring clothes ; though he ’s told That he'd better be less bold— But the chilly wind takes hold, And his mother much doth scold His lack of care, O’er the meadows maidens fair, maidens fair, Search for violets very rare, very rare— But they don't find many there ; For they mostly have more care Than to bud and blossom where 'T is still so cold, WERT. . . * 73 LESSED be nothing, you can’t lose it,” as the tramp said when he climbed over the garden wall, with the bulldog’s nose where his (the tramp's) coat tails ought to have been. . . . F you are a jackass it is your business to bray louder and kick harder than any other jackass. “THE PL-W-RS THAT BL—M IN THE SP—NO, TRA LA,” THE OTHER SIDE. «6 T SAY, Fweddie, these litewawy fellows that wi-wi-w'ite us up in the papers are a lot of cads, you know.” “Yas; just my idea.” “No bwains, Fweddie. ciety.” “No; and look at the bags they wear.” “S-s-should think they ‘d see how—aw—wi-wi-wi-widicu- lous they appear.” “Cawn’t see themselves as we see ‘em, deah boy.” . * . IFFANY asks $85 for a scent bottle. And there are 100 cents to a dollar. . . . 6¢ GAY, pa,” said the Infant Irrepressible, “a boy who takes messages is a messenger, ain't he?” “ Yes, my son.” “ And a man who takes passage—what 's he, a passenger ?” « Hyumps.” “Well, is the man who eats sassages a sassenger ?” Funeral at two. No flowers. . . . ACCOMPLISHED. * “cc A,” complained Bobby, ‘‘ Tommy Tuff can whistle through his teeth so you can hear him a mile.” “Yes, Bobby,” said his mother, encouragingly, ‘“ but Tommy’s teeth are badly broken and decayed, which is the reason he can whistle through them. Besides, Bobby, Tommy has n’t any nice new suit of clothes like you.” “I don't care,” responded Bobby, doggedly, “I'd give him my suit of clothes for his teeth any day.” . . . N Panama it takes the power of the Government to sup- press a paper, but in this country an ordinary sheriff can do it with a simple stroke of the hammer. . . . AD advice for working men.—Strike while the Iron(s) is hot.” No standing in—aw—s-s-s-so- . * * O, Ajax, the rooster is nof a spring flower, although he is a crocus, . . . POPULAR drama with Trades Unions.—“Ten Knights in a Bar-room.” ° * . OVERHEARD AT MIDNIGHT ON’ A CUNARDER. MALL BOY: Ma! Mar!! My dinner won't stay swallered ! comicbooks.com