Life, 1886-12-23 · page 11 of 18
Life — December 23, 1886 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page 403: Analysis This page contains three unrelated humorous pieces typical of Life's satirical format: **"A Case of Conscience"** (top): A boy refuses entry to a well-dressed man (Montague Smythe), pointing to a sign. Smythe claims he's "nothing of the sort"—likely responding to an accusation of dishonesty or impropriety. The joke hinges on his defensive denial. **Three brief satirical items** (bottom sections): - **"No Change"**: A domestic joke about Mrs. Brown's stubbornness; her husband suggests her inflexibility is itself a flaw. - **"Different"**: A father and son debate family status. The son boasts of superior aristocratic lineage despite his father's moral superiority—mocking nouveau riche pretension. - **"Scraps"**: Misogynist humor crediting women with inventing sin and "improvements" (euphemism for moral corruption). Additional items reference William Rockefeller's insomnia (mocking the wealthy) and Queen Victoria's reign. These are light, society-page jokes with no deep political meaning—representative of Life's middle-class humor circa the 1890s.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Aver fh rye a NO CHANGE. «¢P NEVER change my mind,” said Mrs. Brown, with a snap of the jaw heard all over the room. “T wish you would, my dear,” said Brown, mildly, “It must be an improve- ment.” ILLIAM ROCKE- FELLER, of Stan- dard Oil Company fame, is said to suffer from insomnia, A man worth millions of money ought to be able to buy something that would Montague Smythe : rockefeller to sleep. A CASE OF CONSCIENCE. Montague Smythe: Ht THERE BOY, WHY DON’T YOU LET ME ON? Boy (pointing to sign): THat’s WHY. BLAME LIE. I’M NOTHING OF THE SCRT. DIFFERENT. ATHER (/o rapid son): My father never gave me money to spend for fast horses, opera tickets, late dinners, and the like. RapPip SON: Oh yes, but you forgot that I come of a more aristocratic family than you did. SCRAPS. OMAN first invented sin, and she is re- sponsible for most of the improvements since. UEEN VICTORIA will shortly celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of her reign, and if the Prince of | Wales isn’t discovered sitting | on the back stairs looking | sour and cross, we have diag- | nosed him unjustly. HE recent snow-storm delayed many of the males. comicbooks.com