Life, 1887-12-01 · page 7 of 16
Life — December 1, 1887 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 305 This page contains miscellaneous satirical items and a cartoon about the Barnum fire. The main illustration depicts a graveyard scene where circus animals (monkeys and lions) are being buried, with onlookers and what appears to be a coffin-maker or undertaker present. The accompanying table shows financial losses and profits from the fire, sarcastically calculating how P.T. Barnum profited from the disaster through insurance and newspaper advertising revenue. The satire targets Barnum's reputation as a showman willing to exploit any situation for publicity and profit, even animal deaths. The caption below jokes about reform and statues in New York, likely mocking Barnum's self-aggrandizement. The upper section contains brief humorous anecdotes about various public figures, typical of Life magazine's satirical style.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘LIFE: INTERESTING ITEMS. T is related that Sir Walter Scott, upon a certain occasion, lacking the wherewithal for his evening meal, purchased a penny ring, in which was mounted a glass diamond, and which he straightway took to a collector of curios and sold for ten pounds as a souvenir of the author of Waverley. The late Sultan of Turkey left one hundred and sixteen widows and a sufficient number of orphans to completely fill seven asylums, Ex-President Hayes has discovered a new method whereby turkeys may be fattened with natural gas, and old eggs may be renewed in the vigor of youth. Grover Cleveland is by all odds the greatest man who ever occupied the Presidential chair. He measures two rods around the waist. Mr. Pulitzer can call Charles A. Dana Ananias in seven languages. Mr. Dana, by constant practice, has been able to dub Mr. Pulitzer Judas seventy-six times in fifteen minutes. A German scientist has demonstrated that if the Brooklyn Bridge should ever break it would fall into the East River. There is a man in New York city who has been able to get into society without having an income. Mrs, James Brown Potter can wear better clothes than Ellen Terry with her eyes shut. It is authoritatively stated that Mr. Howells can write a novel with his left hand while writing a poem with his right and dictating a letter about the Anarchists with his mouth. 305 HE COULDN'T FOOL THE YANKEE. “ HIS red flag,” shouted the Socialist orator, “is the emblem of the brotherhood of man!" “ Not much,” growled a voice from the back seats, “it's a sign that auctioneers, small-pox, rock-blasting, or some other nuisances are around, and that it's time for wise men to skip out.” APER is now largely used in the manufacture of coffins. P This accounts for the enormous circulation of some of our daily contemporaries. THE BARNUM FIRE, L". sympathizes heartily with the poor monkeys and lions that met a fiery grave on Sunday night of last week, but a consideration of the following table tempers our regret for the venerable Barnum: Loss. Profit. = $800,000 | Insurance . « $100,000 Free advertisingon front page of every news- paper in the world. 00,000 Saving in expense of keeping animals through the winter. 500,000 Stock consumed. . $1,100,000 $300,000 $800,000 Net gain to Barnum . Lire (fo Public Spirited Citizen): UNLESS YOU REFORM YOU ALSO MAY HAVE A STATUE IN New YorK. comicbooks.com