Life, 1887-04-14 · page 5 of 16
Life — April 14, 1887 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 205 The main cartoon titled "De Profundis" depicts a man in a room, with a woman visible through a doorway. The accompanying poem suggests a romantic or domestic conflict—the narrator regrets a lost love and hears snoring, implying his romantic partner has moved on or rejected him. Below are several brief satirical items: - "That House in Fla." mocks a man who built a house "which was almost all call" but whose guests find it has nothing—wordplay on the emptiness of the structure. - "Color Blind" jokes about Mrs. Johnson (described as "full-blooded negress") and George discussing whether black items are actually black—crude racial humor typical of the era. - "Statistical" and other sections contain period-specific one-liner jokes about unions, notaries, and newspapers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THAT HOUSE IN FLA. A man in St. Augustine, Fla. Built a house which was almost all ca. ‘There was nothing so nt., As ke thought, in the st., But his guests said that nothing was ha, COLOR BLIND. RS. JOHNSON (full-blooded negress): Gawge, go wash yo’ face, it’s all black. GEORGE (her ten-year old son, after carefully examin- ing his face in a 3x4 fragment of looking-glass): 1 don’ want to wash, ma; I don’ see no black. NE of the favorite sackcloths for Lent was sealskin sacque cloth. No ashes, DE PROFUNDIS. 11S. strange, strange fate that has brought her here, To this sad old winter resort ; How the sight of her name brings back the time When I hopelessly paid my court. As I seek my room through the hallway dim, I pause as I pass her door; And the old romance, with a pang dies out— For I hear my lost love—snore! Roland King. STATISTICAL, HERE are 23,000 prohibition drug-stores in Georgia, or one jug to each inhabitant. OUT OF ORDER.—A non-union man. A SEAL-SKIN.— A notary public. A JOKE-OWES MAN.— The editor of a comic paper. SOCIAL CO-OPERATION. EBUTANTE: “What beautiful china the de Jones have.” OLD STAGER: “ ‘Tis rather pretty. It looked much better at Smythe’s last week, though. Smythe’s mahogany table rather set it off.” comicbooks.com