Life, 1887-09-22 · page 12 of 16
Life — September 22, 1887 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Weather Signals Satire This page satirizes the U.S. Meteorological Bureau's weather signal system as unnecessarily obscure. Life proposes absurdist "improved" weather flags using everyday objects and figures instead—a crab for backward seasons, a man on a bicycle for early fall, a mother-in-law for storms, etc. The humor lies in the exaggerated visual metaphors: suggesting that a "Salvation Army badge" signals cyclones, or a "blue ribbon" means dry weather. It's satirizing bureaucratic complexity by showing how ridiculous symbolic weather forecasting could become. The "Notes and Queries" section contains unrelated topical humor about coin values, billionaire Jay Gould, and the newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer (the "young Napoleon of Finance"), mocking his exercise regime and legal troubles—typical late-1880s satirical jabs at prominent figures.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
166 > LIFE: LIFE’S IMPROVED WEATHER SIGNALS. For THe Bexerit oF YACHTSMEN, The Meteorological Bureau has now in use a series of Weather Signals which are not easily interpreted by the masses. As an improvement upon the old designs Lire suggests the following new devices, which it hopes to see adopted by the Signal Service. FLAGS. No. 1, Crab—A backward season, No, 3. ‘* Heeler—Local reigns. No, 4. Man on a Bicycle—An early fall. No. 6. Spring bonnet—Sudden showers and No. 7. Mother-in-law—Storm, ey ee No, 8. Blue ribbon—Dry weather, No. 9. Salvation Army badge—Cyclones. high winds. NOTES AND QUERIES. Ist. What is the value of a twenty-cent piece of 1878? 2d. What is the value of a silver dollar of 1885 ?— Collector. A. The twenty-cent piece of the date you mention is worth $2.50, and the dollar you refer to is not worth more that seventy-nine cents, although we have seen it bring ninety-five cents in change on a horse car. . . . Does Gould play billiards, and is it true that Ives was * an expert baseball player ?—Brady. A. We find your question rather hard to answer, Mr. Brady. Our observation leads us to believe that these gen- tlemen indulge a great deal in Water-loo, especially the young Napoleon of Finance. United States ?—ALcG. A. Yes, Dr., he is, even though the Propaganda is so bigot- ed as to deny the eligibility of a Baptist for the Papacy. . . . O Who was second in the first race for the Queen's cup? + —Victoria. QO Is a Roman Catholic eligible for the Presidency of the ~ ’ A, There was no second, Your Maj—that is, er—the er— we don’t seem to remember the name of the second boat. Do you think exercise improves the circulation ?— + George. . A. It does, George. Look at the heaps of exorcising the present proprietor of the World has indulged in, and then read his affidavits on “unday morning. A TIGHT FIT—Deliriam tremens, ~ comicbooks.com