Life, 1887-05-19 · page 12 of 16
Life — May 19, 1887 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page 282 of Life Magazine: Satirical Sketches This page collects several brief satirical pieces mocking contemporary society: **"What the Public Wants"** satirizes theatrical commercialism—a playwright meets a theater manager who insists on adding songs, dances, and spectacle (an "Amazon march," "transformation scene") to make the tragedy commercially viable, regardless of artistic merit. **"Gastronomical"** jokes about pretentious dining: a woman praises a restaurant for its "new French Chef"; her companion, misunderstanding French, tells the waiter to bring the chef for two people. **"A Moonlight Scene"** parodies romantic poetry with a rhyming scheme reducing love to clichés. **"A Literary Career"** mocks commercialized writing: Mrs. Featherleigh makes a fortune not from novels but from writing a single endorsement letter for cosmetics, reproduced on product boxes. **"At the Ball"** presents a flirtation joke about a woman's dance card being full (because her escort took all slots). The overall theme: American culture prioritizes commercial appeal and advertising over genuine art and substance.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE: WHAT THE PUBLIC WANTS. JQ UTHOE: Have you read my tragedy yet? MANAGER: Yes. AUTHOR" What-do you think of it? MANAGER: Not what the public wants at all. AUTHOR: But could not some changes be made that would make it take? MANAGER: Yes, that might be done. AUTHOR: Well, tell me what it needs. MANAGER: Well, let me see. You ought to introduce a song and dance in the first act where the villain swears vengeance, and the hero ought to sing a topical song right after his love scene. In the third act, where the heroine takes poison, the curtain should go down on an Amazon march. Then run in a transformation scene, and I'll try it. FO. A young girl of St. Louis, Mo., As lovely and sweet as a ho., Was mortified seau, At not having a beau, ‘That she strung herself up in a bro. GASTRONOMICAL. = She: 1 LiKE THIS PLACE IMMENSELY SINCE THEY HAVE THE AT THE BALL. NEW FRENCH Che/. 6c H! good evening, Miss Brown. Is your card full ? He (weak in his French, but generous to a fault): Waitan, “No, Mr. Smythe, but my escort is, and if you BRING Chef FoR TWO! would kindly take me home I would be so much obliged.” A MOONLIGHT SCENE. is II. MAN A man In love, Enraged, A maid A dog Above. Uncaged. I. Iv. He twangs A grip, Guitar, A groan, And wooes A dog His star. Alone. A LITERARY CAREER. “ HERE goes that clever Mrs, Feather- leigh, she makes a fortune every year | from her pen.” “Indeed! I never saw any of her produc- | tions.” “Never saw them! why she wrote a letter commending ‘Parian Powder for the Com- | plexion,’ that has been reproduced in fac-simile on every box sold. She received a thousand | dollars for it.” ollars ior Farmer: \ NEVER HAD NO COMPLAINTS ABOUT MY MILK AFORE, AN’ I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY IT SHOULD APPEAR THINNER’N USUAL; I SEND IT DIRECT A N appropriate inscription for a Waterbury | prom THE cow TO YOUR HOUSE, AN’ Watch: “One good turn deserves another. (it was at this point that a loud laugh was heard.) comicbooks.com