Life, 1888-08-02 · page 12 of 14
Life — August 2, 1888 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 68 This page contains several satirical short pieces typical of Life's humor format: **Main cartoon**: A shop clerk sells a woman an absurdly tiny bathing dress, justifying the skimpiness by noting that fashionable resort areas require less fabric than modest destinations—satirizing how beachwear standards varied by social class and location. **Brief gossip items** mock contemporary figures: Robert Garrett (likely the wealthy railroad heir), Jay Gould (the notorious industrialist), General Greely (Arctic explorer), and Colonel Eugene Field (Chicago literary figure) for various pretensions or contradictions. **"A Wise Boy" joke**: A messenger boy admits he spent the sender's quarter on cigarettes and delivery stamps instead of delivering the note, claiming this speeds delivery—absurd logic that satirizes youthful con-artistry. The page represents Life's signature blend of visual and textual satire targeting wealth, vanity, and social pretension among the Gilded Age elite and urban middle class.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Customer ; BUT 18N'T THAT RATHER SKIMP FOR A BATHING DRESS? Clerk: WELL, THAT DEPENDS UPON WHERE YOU ARE GOING TO Si SUMMER, IF YOU ARE GOING TO THE BRANCH YOU WILL PERHAPS HALE AS MUCH MORE, BUT IF YOU INTEND GOING TO A MORE FASHIONABLE PLACE YOU WILL FIND A PIECE LIKE THIS WILL MORE THAN MAKE YOU A SUIT. WE all have our ups and downs. Mr. Robert Garrett is said to have returned with health restored, and now Mr. Jay Gould is not feeling so well again. . . * GPEME GREELY is understood to explain that if the hottest days don’t match his prognostications, it is the weather's fault, not his. . . . I" is true that Colonel Eugene Field pronounces Robert Browning to be “a slobberer,” and avers that his work is “slovenly, involved and inco- herent; but no one must imagine from that that Colonel Field expects to leave Chicago, The Colonel does not care for pork, and has constantly to create new interests for himself. The Browningites tide him over the dull spells be- tween anarchists, ELS. M. A WISE BOY. G TLEMAN (¢o boy in Madison Sguare): Are you the messenger boy who took my note fifteen minutes ago? “Yes, sir.” “Did you deliver it?” “No, sir.” “Where is the quarter I gave you?” “Bought a special delivery stamp and a package of cigarettes; it'll get there quicker, Mister.” “Vicny.” comicbooks.com