Life, 1888-06-28 · page 5 of 21
Life — June 28, 1888 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 363 **Top Section - "The Glorious Fourth":** These cartoons satirize Fourth of July fireworks safety. The left panel mocks "The Spangled Banner" fireworks as "perfectly harmless" while showing chaos. The middle and right panels show the dangerous results—injuries and destruction. This criticizes the casual attitude toward fireworks hazards during Independence Day celebrations. **Middle Section - "Forethought":** A dialogue cartoon where a man asks another to help him disguise his purpose before marriage, claiming he needs three trial periods first. It's a bachelor's anxiety joke about matrimonial commitment and deception. **Right Section - Short humor pieces:** Includes brief jokes about cigars, duck hunting, and other minor social observations typical of the era's magazine humor. The page reflects early 20th-century American domestic humor and safety concerns.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE: THE GLORIOUS FOURTH. FIRE WORK‘ QF ALL KIN | bali INO SMOKING ALLOWED | “This, sir, we call ‘The Spangled Banner ;’ “Don’t be alarmed, my dears ; it is perfectly perfectly harmless and produces a fine effect.” harmless and produces a fine effect.” BRAND. Beeron: Young Jones is very generous with (puff) ; (puff) be kinder to his friends if he smoked them himself. SOMEWHAT EXPLAN- ATORY. . IFE: You say you shot this duck your- self, John? I can find no marks on it. HusBAND (who hadn't thought of that): Well-er- my dear, the bird was very high up, you know, and per- haps the fall killed it. EY. DR. HAUTON (after morning ser- vice): Good-morning, my dear Mrs. De Twillingham. We have had rather a small congregation this morning. - = re a 2 Mrs. DE TWILLINGHAM: A: ee ep Yes, Dr. Hauton, but I [$5 = . thought it was very select. FORETHOUGHT. R. FOLSING (of the “ DARRINGER, I HAVE COME TO ASK YOU TO DO ME A GREAT FAVOR.” Junior Class, who ““Wuar IS IT, YOUNG MAN?” has agreed to prepare young ““You'VE BEEN MARRIED A GOOD MANY YEARS, HAV! you?” Blandid for Harvard); “yes.” “CAND THREE TIMES, IF I MISTAKE NOT?” “Yes.” “WELL, I AM ON THE POINT OF MARRYING, AND I WANT YOU TO DISSUADE ME books and trot out your FROM MY PURPOSE.” chips and wet goods. Well, my boy, if you're ready to begin, just put up those comicbooks.com