Life, 1888-07-05 · page 12 of 14
Life — July 5, 1888 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Satire: Page Analysis This page contains three separate satirical jokes typical of early 20th-century Life magazine: 1. **"After the Fourth"**: An American tourist admires a large Egyptian sphinx, asking to rent its front and sides to display as a "tonic" (patent medicine advertisement). The joke mocks American commercialism and the tourist impulse to commodify historical monuments. 2. **"One Way of Looking at It"**: A divinity student praises a minister who christened 32 babies in one month; a "Girl of the Period" compares it to "licking postage stamps"—a tedious, repetitive task. This satirizes modern women's perceived superficiality and detachment from religious solemnity. 3. **"Extreme Gallantry"**: Young people discussing masquerade costumes—one woman chooses "Malaria" as timely to the weather; a man offers to go as "Quinine Pill" (a fever remedy). The satire targets both illness-themed humor and young people's irreverent wit. The page's epigraph—"A touch of ill-nature makes the whole world keen"—frames these as examples of contemporary social mockery.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AFTER THE FOURTH. A Tate or Tiree Orpans. American Tourist: Impressive? Ain't IT, THOUGH? WHAT DO You s'rose I COULD HIRE THE FRONT AND SIDES FOR TO SHOW OUR TONIC ? ONE WAY OF LOOKING AT IT. OUNG DIVINITY STUDENT: John is doing a noble work for that little parish out there. Why, one day last month he christened thirty-two babies! GIRL OF THE PERIOD: Dear me! It must have been just like licking a lot of postage stamps! y EXTREME GALLANTRY. (Ethel and Blanche are discussing a coming masque ball.) 4 THEL: If we go, do let's try and go as something new; | am tired of “Snow” and “Spring.” BLANCHE: Well, I'm going as Malaria. 1 think it's appropriate to this weather, ToM: May I go as a Quinine Pill? A TOUCH of ill-nature makes the whole world keen. comicbooks.com