Life, 1886-11-04 · page 12 of 16
Life — November 4, 1886 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 280 This page contains several satirical pieces typical of late 19th-century American humor: **"Quite Pardonable"**: A gentleman apologizes for colliding with a corset advertisement, mistaking it for a woman—satirizing both absent-mindedness and the prevalence of suggestive advertising. **"Soap Bilin'"**: Dialect humor depicting an enslaved person's complaint about careless work, using heavy phonetic African American vernacular. This reflects the magazine's reliance on racial caricature common to the era. **"Diogenes Again"**: A cartoon showing Brother Jonathan (personification of America) telling an old man searching for an honest person that he's "on the wrong track"—cynically suggesting honest men don't exist in America, playing on Diogenes's famous search. **Various wordplay sections**: Puns about reddish horses and English weather reference Queen Victoria's long reign. The page demonstrates Life's mix of observational humor, puns, and period-typical racial stereotyping aimed at educated readers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
CARVER & CUTTERS ¢ 7GREATY* Fe WILD << ST or eos es TURES TyEsony eve INTEMPERANCE IC arene JAS. JAMS Fy QUITE PARDONABLE. Absent-minded gentleman, who has just collided with a corset advertisement: A’ BEG THOUSH'ND PARD'NS, MA’AM, ’M SURE. Gu 1 MUSHT GOT INTO WRONG ROOM, ge RAP 't! drap ’t! Lan’ sakes alibe! see no sich a ole nigge’ ’n all m’ bo’n days! ’Pea’s like yo" git mo’'n mo’ kee'less d’ longe’ yo’ lib!— don’ yo’ hea’ me? Drap dat stick! drag '¢/ A-sloppin’ er all obe’ de side ob de kittle.” “Wha’ dat—wha’ dat yo’ a-say’n’? Wuz yo’ a-call’n’ me a ole nigge’? Humph? Yo’ bet’ b’ ca’ful—bet’ b’ ca’ful, ole woman — bet’ b’ ca’ful—d’ fus’ ting yo’ know I nebbe’ did KISMET. NEVER told you half the madness Of the moans I could not hide ; I never whispered half the sadness That I hid not nor denied : We never needed to speak true, For we both knew. Well I remember I did tremble At mine own half uttered sighs ; And you too could scarce dissemble The passion of your lightning eyes. Yet you were deaf to my imploring, And only bent upon restoring My soul from sinful miseries : So while I raised mine eyes to you, Clasping in agony your knees, You plied the shoe. CML AMUSEMENT. | «6 ORNIN’, Uncle Ned. Whar am Mirandy?” “She went to set up wid de corpse las’ nite. | Ain’t got home yit.” “O my goodness ! went alarng wid her. fer over a week. ment.” If she'd only tole me about it I’d a Dar ain’t been nuffin a-goin’ on heah I’se mos’ dying for some kind of 'muse- ALV.S. HY is a reddish horse like a horse-radish? Because we can’t test the speed of one, or the virtue of the other, without putting a bit in the mouth. HE wind that causes the most rain in England was for- merly supposed to be the southwest, but since Queen Victoria’s jubilee was discovered, public opinion attributes the longest reign to the breeze that blew the Brunswickers into the throne. yo’ won’ know nuff’n; dat yo’ won’! I jes’ | 's soon lam yo’ wif a fence-rail ez t’ et co'n- | pone! ‘Deed I would. Ole nigge’! N’ ez fe’ a-drapp’n’ dis ye’ stick — I ain’ a-drapp’n’ ’er!— L ain’ a-drapp’n’ uff x/—duz yo’ he’a j dat? J's a-stirr’n’ dis ye’ soap—duz yo’ | hea’ dat ?—’n I’s gwine-t’ keep on a-stirr'n’ | dis ye’ soap — slopp’n’ er no_ slopp’n’ — a-stirring ’n a-stzrr’n’ tel she’s done biled !” B. Zim. HE ’S NOW SEARCHING FOR GOUR. YOUNG thing of about twenty-four, Of the ‘‘ genus homo” called bour— Once threatened to guage A Boston maid’s auge, And straightway was shown to the dour. OULD it be improper to call an alley where a street fight has taken place, an allegory ? ——— orwapa DIOGENES AGAIN. Brother Jonathan : 1 SAY, OLD MAN, IF YOU ARE IN DEAD EARNEST ABOUT FINDING AN HONEST MAN, AND CARE TO BE GUIDED BY MY EXPERIENCE, LET ME INFORM YOU YOU’RE ON THE WRONG TRACK. comicbooks.com