Life, 1887-05-12 · page 12 of 16
Life — May 12, 1887 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Satirical Page Analysis This page contains brief satirical "scraps"—short jokes and commentary on contemporary social issues. Key targets include: **Social commentary:** McGlynn and Henry George lecturing against poverty ("Talk is a poor weapon"); Canadians' reputation for theft; Americans in Canada similarly dishonest. **Personal mockery:** Bella Jones's crude fashion choice (red handkerchief to a ball); Hetty Hoskins's vanity about her figure; a drunk man unable to quit swearing despite promises. **Wordplay jokes:** A pun on "veteran-ary surgeon" (veterinarian) hired for an Old Soldiers' Home; "falsetto voice" doesn't mean false teeth; people who never buy drinks are "sponges." **Class humor:** The main cartoon shows a drunken Smith confronted by Jones about his broken sobriety oath. The bottom cartoon depicts working-class Mary Ann Gilligan refused an umbrella by a snobbish woman, highlighting class prejudice. The satire targets drunkenness, social pretension, hypocrisy, and class divisions—typical Life magazine fare of the period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SCRAPS. ELLA JONES, a young lady of Del., Of the fashions was not very wel.. So a handkerchief red She wrapped round her head, And this rig to the ball did Miss Bel. * * * R. McCGLYNN and Henry George are lecturing against poverty. Talk is a poor weapon. * * * T'S darkest just before Dey. This accounts for the proximity of the Arabs | to the Negroes. * * * FALSETTO voice does not neces- sarily imply a falsetto teeth. * * * HE Canadian papers refer to Ameri- cans as thieves, and we don’t wonder. Most of the Americans in Canada are more or less that way. * * * He HOSKINS, of Hartford, Ct., Was amazingly proud of her pt., Which pride to express, She held up her dress, And thus a fine figure did Ht. Smith; HERE YOU ARE, BEASTLY DRUNK AGAIN! DON’T YOU FEEL ASHAMED OF * * * YOURSELF AFTER SWEARING OFF SO RECENTLY ? , >, ; Jones: MY DEAR HO—hic—Ov, I DON’ WAN' TER BE A SLAVE TO THAT SWEARING wi on Wall Street is apt to OFF HABIT, fecl bully; but if he loses, he wears | a bare-ish aspect. MARINE ARISTOCRACY. Oo" ! thou, whose proud bosom is swelled with emotion, When using the ‘‘ arms” which your grandsires possessed, Go ! look at the children of old Father Ocean, And you'll see every “‘ swell” there, is ‘‘ sporting a crest.” GET. s AN APPROPRIATE SELECTION. ffi BS “ ] SEE that old Dr. Fettlox has been appointed visiting physician to the Old Soldiers’ Home. How on earth did they come to choose him?” “Why, don’t you know he’s the most renowned veteran-ary surgeon in the country?” “Indeed. You surprise me. 1 thought he was a horse doctor.” HAT man should be 90 per cent. water seems incredible until we meet those who never like to pay for their own beverages. It is never a surprise that a sponge should hold so much. “No, Mary ANN GILLIGAN, YOU CAN'T AT AN AFTERNOON TEA. COME UNDER MY UMBRELLER; IF I’M NOT RS. SMITH: Good afternoon, Mr. Robinson ; excuse my left hand. @00D ENOUOH FOR Te MALEWUAEY SHEN | . . . 7 AIN'T GOT NO UMBRELLER, THEN I’M NOT MRR. (who és deaf and thinks she is alluding to the bad weather): \ Goov ENOUGH TO RECKERNIZE WHEN I'M Yes, it is rather dirty ! | WALKIN’ WITH ONE!” comicbooks.com