Life, 1888-05-17 · page 5 of 18
Life — May 17, 1888 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 277 This page contains humorous prose pieces and sketches typical of Life's satirical content. The drawings illustrate comedic scenarios rather than political cartoons: The upper sketch shows a man observing elegantly dressed figures, likely accompanying a poem about aging and romantic nostalgia (the "Tempora Mutantur" piece by E.W.). The lower illustration depicts a classroom scene where a professor instructs students about an electrical machine—a large glass wheel turned by a crank. The humor appears to derive from the absurdity of the device itself or the professor's pompous explanation, with students responding sarcastically ("Applause from the class"). The surrounding text pieces mock various social conventions: judicial dress codes, burglary stereotypes, and romantic disappointments. These represent Life's typical light satirical commentary on everyday American life and manners rather than hard political critique.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE: “TEMPORA MUTANTUR, ET NOS MUTAMUR IN ILLIS. T twenty-one I thought it fine To flirt with women of twenty-nine ; At thirty-three, A girl ’twas fated I should love Whose age my years were ten above, And fancy free. I now am rather old and gray, But still the lover's role I play, In spite of jeers. I love a maid just turned sixteen ; Alack, between us intervene Some forty years ! I TOLD yOU SO. ROWN: You don’t look very happy, Robinson. ROBINSON: No, I left off my flannels this morning and caught cold. Brown: That's bad. Ropinson: Oh, I don’t care anything about the cold; but my wife told me I was leaving them off too soon. IN GREAT LUCK. FReEN: Was your uncle's will satisfactory to you, Brown? Brown: Perfectly so; I’m a lucky dog! He left his entire for- tune to an insane asylum. FRIEND: You mean that you are an unlucky dog. Brown: No, I don’t; the other relations are going to contest the will, and I’m to be the attorney. UDGES should certainly wear robes. It doesn’t seem right to be sent up for ten years by a man who wears a three-button cutaway coat and a speckled trout waistcoat. HEN a burglar break into a house he generally steals up-stairs, and everything else he can lay his hands on. P. HH. Welch. (Applause from the class.) Professor (to class in physics): NOW, DESCRIBE THIS ELECTRICAL MACHINE, IF YOU PLEASE. Head Boy: \T CONSISTS OF A LARGE GLASS WHEEL TURNED BY A CRANK. comicbooks.com