Life, 1887-08-04 · page 12 of 14
Life — August 4, 1887 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Explanation for Modern Readers This page from *Life* magazine presents a humorous illustrated guide to weather prediction. The six numbered panels show a man attempting to use a donkey as a weather forecasting tool—pulling its tail, holding it, riding it—each supposedly demonstrating different meteorological outcomes. Below, the "Weather Signs" section offers deliberately absurd pseudo-scientific observations, mixing legitimate (falling barometer indicates rain) with ridiculous (an Englishman abroad signals "a heavy blow," frozen pipes mean cold weather). The final joke about "Bostonians" indicating cold weather appears to mock Boston's reputation. The satire targets people's tendency to find patterns and meaning in random occurrences, and pokes fun at folk meteorology. The donkey serves as the central absurd device—treating an animal's behavior as predictive, mirroring how people desperately seek weather certainty before modern forecasting.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
> LIFE - AND IT CAME TO PASS! WEATHER SIGNS. [By our Dakota Correspondent.) HEN the atmosphere is permeated with oak trees, wooden barns and mansard roofs, you may expect a cyclone. ° e . AN ects when laid hard-boiled, isa sign of hot weather. . ° * [ F-your morning paper predicts showers followed by cooler weather, you may leave off your winter clothing and pawn your umbrella. * * . ALLING barometer is usually a sign of rain, but if it falls off the wall or the mantel-piece it betrays the presence of earthquakes. NIVERSAL dampness, both of atmosphere and sidewalks, when accompanied by an eruption of umbrellas and waterproofs, may be regarded as indicative of rain. . * . AS Englishman abroad is usually the sign of a heavy blow. * . . F ROZEN water-pipes indicate cold weather. . . . Tt Earth is apt to be damp after a heavy rain. . . . A CHANGE in temperature followed by Bostonians indicates colder weather. f 4 comicbooks.com