Life, 1886-06-03 · page 3 of 18
Life — June 3, 1886 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 311 The main illustration depicts two men in formal dress examining what appears to be a stock certificate or financial document. One figure points at the paper while the other observes—likely satirizing Wall Street investors or financial speculation. The surrounding text consists of humorous anecdotes and aphorisms about social topics: work hours, gender differences ("Man blushes from guilt; woman from innocence"), and observations on human nature. Below are two brief fables ("The Turtle and the Fly" and "The Lion and the Broker") offering moral lessons—the broker fable particularly mocking financial deception and risk. The overall page satirizes Gilded Age financial culture, social pretension, and the follies of speculation, typical of Life's satirical commentary on American society during this period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AWAY OFF. RS. MERRITT (languidly): How warm the weather has turned in all at once. My husband walked through the park this afternoon, and when he got home his face was all tanned by the sun. Mrs. Malaprop (horrified): Dear, dear; what is this old world coming to! I never heard of such a thing before. When I was a girl it used to be the father that tanned the son. WHO! HO wants to work ten hours a day? Eight hours’ work ought to be enough to keep the faculties alert and the appetite keen, and who would care to go on after these primary ends are attained? Who? People who need ten hours’ pay, to be sure, or who are after something that the eight-hour system will not fetch, and whose energies can stand more protracted exertion. There are a good many such persons, and when the cake is cut the largest slices are apt to go to them. Any man’s preference for an eight-hour stint is reasonable, but not a forced limitation of his fellow’s opportunity. There are a good many reasonable preferences that circumstances deny. It may be that the eight-hour system is one. AN blushes from guilt ; woman from in- nocence—sometimes. R. F. (speaking of a man in convulsions): And then he fell down, and nothing human could make such a noise as he made. Georgie : Show us what kind of a noise it was, Pa. IGNS OF HUMOR—Those in front of the District Telegraph offices, repre- senting the messenger boys on the run. A GENUINE HUM-BUG—The locust. FABLES FOR THE TURTLE AND THE FLY. TURTLE was once swimming in a creek and saw a Fly floating on the surface. “ Now,” said the Turtle, “here’s a fine smack, and my appetite is good. Lucullus dines with Lucullus to-day.” Then the Turtle snapped up the Fly, but the next moment was caught on a hook and thrown violently upon the bank, while an American Presi- dent seized it by the legs, and several members of the Cabinet stood by and swore that it was a Mountain Trout. MorAL: This Fable teaches how hard it is to tastea watermelon without breaking the rind. THE TIMES. THE LION AND THE BROKER. HUNGRY lion once caught a Wall street broker and carried him into the woods, intending to eat him; but, before beginning his repast, the royal beast laid his.lunch on the ground and took a nap. While the lion was asleep, the cunning broker took out his pocket-knife, carefully skinned the lion without waking him, and then carried the skin off and sold it as a buffalo robe. : MORAL: This Fable illustrates the uncertainty of the stock market, besides showing how easy it is for a man to kick the cover off the bed while he is asleep. comicbooks.com