Life, 1886-09-02 · page 15 of 16
Life — September 2, 1886 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily an **advertising page** from Life magazine's early period, with one satirical exchange embedded among commercial notices. The page's sole satirical content is a brief **dialogue joke** between an "Omaha Dame" and a "New York dame" about Shakespeare authorship. The New York socialite claims that elite Fifth Avenue society denies Shakespeare wrote his own plays, attributing them instead to Francis Bacon. When challenged on the logic, she dismisses intellectual reasoning, snobbishly asserting Bacon's superiority simply because "he was a real, live lord." **The satire targets**: Social pretension and anti-intellectualism among wealthy New Yorkers who adopt contrarian positions not from genuine scholarship but to appear fashionably exclusive and aristocratic. The joke mocks how the wealthy use cultural claims to signal status rather than seek truth. The rest of the page consists of **period advertisements** for clothing (tailors, cloaks, furs), toiletries, cigarettes, and printing services—typical commercial content of 1880s magazines.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE HENRIETTE FRAME, ROBES and ' MANTEAUX, JOHN PATTERSON & CO. Tomer Soaps: “You have demonstrated that a fer-/ectly pure Solicits an never naa. of | map may be made: 3 thersioees oni ta Peseral some very beautiful designs : are I fer veeiing dress wraps | Tailors & Importers, Ba ee eae ma aes and Street Costumes, select- | | ed during her trip abroad, 5 == suitable for Fall and Winter. | Outof townordersteceive} AO. 436 Birth venue, special attention. Perfect fit guaranteed on receipt of measurement. | Ladies’ Department, Hew Work 232 West 22d Street, | RO 431 Fifth venus, ¢ D NEW YORK. | . A KIMBALL’S SATIN | GEO. MATHERS SONS | @ciiteaa STRAIGHT CUT CIGARETTES, | R ] NT ] N G ] N K - People of refined taste who | "| desire exceptionally fine cigar- | s 60 JOHN STREET, N.Y. | fiettes should use only our] Is made from the choicest quality Al WW Straight Cut, put up in satin} of sti Ic, THIS PAPER IS PRINTED WITH<OUR| packets and boxes of ros. 208. | PERCENTAGE or GL veERING; SPECIAL - LIFE - INK. | 50s, and 100s. 14 Prise Medals.| therefore it is specially adapted for | WM. S. KIMBALL & CO."| Toilet, Bath and infants, E. D. KAHN & Cco., 56 West Twenty-third Street, Opposite Eden Musée. LEADING NOVELTIES CLOAKS AND FURS. E. D. KAHN & CO., 56 WEST 23D STREET. Ct 7" | | _ Omaa Dame —“ And so you belong toa Buon-| Cavanagh, Sandford & Co., ian club?” New York dame— ‘“‘ Yes, indeed. None Lins Evens NG 6. B .| of opr Fifth: avenue people believe that Shakespeare | Merchant Tailors wrote those plays; they are so divinely masterful.” 67 PARK PLACE.NEW YORK | ‘* But what is the argument in favor of Bacon? He, TR =a} | too, was only a man.” ‘Yes, but he was a real, live | and Importers, | lord, you know.” — Omaha World. 61 West 23d STREET, | Opposite Fifth Ave. Hotel, NEW YORK. MAKERS OF THE © & § SHIRT PAJAMAS AND UNDERWEAR, GAUNTLET BRAND Unequalled J for = Excellence, Without a rival as a dressing for all Salads, and as a sauce for Cold Meats, etc. It is prepared with extreme care; all its ingredients are of the purest and dest; and will keep good for for Yeas. ice: OLUME. VIII. NEW YORK, SEPTEMBI