Life, 1887-07-28 · page 11 of 16
Life — July 28, 1887 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 53 This page contains three satirical pieces typical of early 20th-century American humor magazines. **"Anglo" dialogue**: A man admits to being an "Anglomaniac" (excessively devoted to British culture), prompting Miss Maude's wordplay—she thought he was "something of a maniac" but didn't know what kind. This mocks Americans who affected British mannerisms and tastes. **"The Philosophical Hound"**: A fable where a struggling Terrier receives advice from a successful Greyhound: hide your poverty and act confident, and prosperity will follow. This satirizes self-help platitudes and the notion that mere appearance and attitude can overcome genuine hardship—advice that rings hollow to someone actually starving. **"Robert's Revenge"**: A visual sequence (right side) showing a man purchasing a cheap suit that initially fits well but then expands ("swell"). The implied punchline is his revenge—the seller is exposed when the inferior garment fails. This mocks both cheap clothing merchants and gullible buyers. The short aphorisms at bottom mock various absurdities with deadpan logic.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Mr. Sissy: Ya'as, | DON'T DENY THAT I AM AN ANGLOMANIAC, I THOUGHT You KNEW THAT, Miss MAUDE. @fiss Maude: | KNEW YOU WERE SOMETHING OF A MANIAC, MR. Sissy, RUT I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT KIND, THE PHILOSOPHICAL HOUND. A POOR half-starved and ragged Terrier, who had vainly tried every method of making a living, at last, in despair, appealed to a trim Greyhound whom he had known in better days. “My friend,” said the Greyhound, “you can help yourself as much as anybody else can help you. Throw off this dejected air. You are like a man walking under an umbrella and still wondering why the shadow pursues him. Don't whine; don’t keep your tail between your legs. Let your eyes be bright and your coat well brushed.” “That is hard,” sighed the Terrier, “when your heart is full of grief and your stomach empty.” “Don't yelp so," said the Hound. “I've moved a good deal in society, and I've noticed that those who need nothing receive much; but when hard luck over- takes a man everybody's back is turned. Now the correct thing for you to do is to conceal your necessities and assume a good air. In a short time I'll wager you won't have any necessities to conceal.” G. E. Hanson. HE thermometer, though crushed to earth, will rise again. Its occasional fall is due merely to exhaustion from the heat. HE vitality of the dismembered batrachian exceeds even that of headless chickens, judging from the fact that frogs’ legs in the market at Asbury Park have jumped fifty per cent. higher within a few days. XCOMMUNICATED and other angry persons will find that their withering smile of disdain will be much more effective if, before, displaying it, they cease to foam at the mouth. HOW ROBERT WAS SOLD ON A CHEAP SUIT OF CLOTHES, AND HOW H® HAD HIS REVENGE, THEY FIT, THEY SWELL. id 53 comicbooks.com