Life, 1886-12-23 · page 3 of 18
Life — December 23, 1886 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 395 This page contains **Christmas-themed humorous sketches and verse**, not political cartoons. The content includes: **"Merry Christmas"** — A dialogue where James receives a large family portrait from his niece, prompting Uncle Moneybags's amazed reaction to the size of the family. **"Our Girls"** — Dialogue between Miss Ethel and Miss Clara about Christmas gifts, including handkerchief embroidery. **Two satirical observations** about men's vanity and moral decline. **"A Rhyme of Mistress Marjory"** — A period-style verse (with archaic spelling) about a woman's Christmas behavior and romantic encounters, ending with "—M.E.W." **"A Christmas Gift"** — A short story about a wife giving her husband an expensive chair, revealing it's actually for his mother. These are gentle domestic satires typical of Victorian-era Life magazine humor, not political commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
MERRY CHRISTMAS. AMES: A parcel, with Mrs. Simpkin’s love, sir. UNCLE Money BaGs: Humph—open it, James. (Soleloguizing) | wonder what my affectionate niece has sent me this time. For six consecutive years I have been regaled with photographs of one of her six children ; last year she sent me her own. And this — JAMEs: Here it is, sir. UNCLE MONEyBAGS: Great Scott! a family group. OUR GIRLS. ISS ETHEL: Oh, Clara. I’m so glad I met you. What can I give Jack for Christmas ? | Miss CLARA: Make him something. Gus always | wants some of my work. I've just taken eleven | fine cambric handkerchiefs to Blanks to be em- broidered for him, and I can easily do the twelfth | myself you know — with mama’s help. ° HE clergyman who cannot witness a ballet | without lowering his moral tone is the kind of man who had better stay away. HEN a man becomes firmly convinced that he is a genius, it is then that the fringe slowly begins to form on the bottom of his trousers’ legs. DREADFUL ALTERNATIVE. I WONDER WHAT I'D DO IF SOME ONE WUZ TER SAY THEY’D GIVE ME THAT TURKEY, IF I'D EAT IT ALL AT ONE SITTIN’? 1 GUESS I'D TAKE IT AND BUST! es ? WAS Mistress¢ Marjory yt Kept Her Xmas-tyde with Toe & Heel‘, & to y¢ Tune of Musick Stept Alle Redde wth Laughter inne ye Reele, & here She Cuffed A Saucy Swain, Yt Skippinge Gayly thro’ ye Dance, Wolde Ogle her (But alle inne Vayn) Wh too Presuminge Look & Glance. & here upon ye Pouting Lippes Of peevish Prue, ye jealous Maid, Her pink and Poynted Finger-tippes Inne Mischievous Reproving Layd. But whenne She Tryed her pretty Airs Onne me, forsooth, yt Loved her soe, I caught & Kissed her Unawares, Beneath ye Bough of Mistletoe. —M. E,W, A CHRISTMAS GIFT. “ I DIDN'T intend that you should see it just yet, George,” remarked a young wife to her husband, “and I was afraid that you might think me foolish to spend so much money for a chair, but it is so comfortable and luxurious, and I thought you would be pleased that ——” “Pleased!” he repeated enthusiastically, “ why, I am delighted. It’s just what I’ve wanted for a long ——” “Oh, it isn’t for you, George, dear, it’s for mother.” comicbooks.com