Life, 1888-11-08 · page 12 of 14
Life — November 8, 1888 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Explanation for Modern Readers This page contains three separate satirical jokes typical of early 20th-century Life magazine humor: 1. **"The Unexpected Candidate"** (top): A visual gag about patent leather shoes. The woman suggests her companion needs a shoe shine because his shoes look dull. He claims patent leather doesn't need shining. She jokes that the patent (the legal protection) must have expired, so he should "renew it"—a pun on patent renewal and shoe maintenance. 2. **"Commercially Intent"** (middle): A butcher/meat merchant named Hamburger and a woman named Winthrop discuss bacon orders. The joke plays on the surname "Hamburger" (a meat product) and implies most meat sales in their business run to hams rather than bacon seasonally. 3. **"A Bad Beginning"** (bottom): A young doctor diagnoses a patient and prescribes less coffee. The patient replies he drinks none. The doctor, annoyed, insists "you ought to"—humor based on the absurdity of the physician's illogical prescription. All three are light, pun-based humor relying on wordplay and mild social observation rather than political commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
264 THE UNEXPECTED CANDIDATE. She: Don'T YOU THINK YOU HAD BETTER GET A SHINE? YOUR SHOES ARE VERY DINGY. He: WiY, THEY DON'T NEED IT; THEY ARE PATENT-LEATHER, She: TWE PATENT MUST HAVE EXPIRED; YOU HAD BETTER GET IT RENEWED! COMMERCIALLY INTENT. HE: Are you giving any attention to this Bacon matter, Mr. Hamburger? MR. HAMBURGER (of Chz- cago): Not much at present, Miss Winthrop. At this season of the year our orders run mostly to hams. A BAD BEGINNING. OUNG PHYSICIAN (a:- agnosing a case): In the first place, sir, you must drink Bs less coffee. i 4 t PATIENT: I never drink any coffee at all, sir. YOUNG PHYSICIAN (consid- erably annoyed): Well, you ought to. comicbooks.com