Life, 1886-12-23 · page 7 of 18
Life — December 23, 1886 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page 399 Analysis This page contains several brief satirical items typical of early Life magazine's humor: **"A Strong Company"** mocks fire insurance agents' exaggerated claims—four tons of blotting paper supposedly represents financial strength. **"The English Nobility"** compares English aristocrats unfavorably to sparrows, suggesting they're equally bothersome. **"Cholly Misunderstands"** features a woman describing a summer outing with Vassar girls and "a tramp" through the Adirondacks; a man misinterprets "tramp" as a vagrant rather than a hiking trip. **"A Suitable Gift for Charley"** jokes about buying a hat for a young man, playing on the old saying that smaller hats require larger canes—absurdist humor about male fashion accessories. The page's humor relies on wordplay, class commentary, and social observation typical of early 20th-century American satire.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“EIEE-: A STRONG COMPANY. ITIZEN: You say you have a strong company ? FIRE INSURANCE AGENT: Remarkably strong, sir. CITIZEN : What is your showing for the past year ? FIRE INSURANCE AGENT : Four tons of blotting paper. HE English nobility has got to be as big a nuisance as the English sparrows. 399 A CERTIFICATE OF HONESTY. “ ES, sir!” said Dibbs, earnestly. “ We should always look upon long-haired men with respect. It isa surety that they have not been in State prison or the peniten- tiary for a while.” N ordinary small boy is never so happy as when he is standing under a safe that is being hoisted to the fifth story. CHOLLY MISUNDERSTANDS. She; YES, WE HAD A SPLENDID TIME LAST SUMMER, THE ADIRONDACKS, He: DID THE TRAMP HAVE A GOOD TIME? FOUR OTHER VASSAR GIRLS AND I TOOK A TRAMP THROUGH A SUITABLE GIFT FOR CHARLEY. ASHIONABLE YOUNG WOMAN (fo dealer) : I want to look at a cane that would be suitable for a Christ- mas gift. DEALER: For a young or old gentleman, ma’am? FASHIONABLE YOUNG WoMaAN: Oh, quite young. DEALER: Do you know what size hat he wears? FASHIONABLE YOUNG WOMAN: Five and a-half, I think. DEALER: I see. The largest size will please him best. The smaller the hat, ma’am, the larger the cane. UNABLE TO MEIGHT. AID George: ‘‘On my mind there's a weight ; It really is getting quite leight, And I fear that your Pa”»—— He got only thus far, For he landed outside of the geight. HE jokes in Harfer's Drawer have made the rounds of the newspapers four times on an average. And the point of a joke is completely knocked out in four rounds. comicbooks.com