Life, 1888-11-08 · page 13 of 14
Life — November 8, 1888 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of "Mrs. Scissors at Nullus" — Life Magazine Page 265 This page features a collection of brief humorous anecdotes rather than a political cartoon. The main satirical content includes: **"Paying for Style"**: A joke about the Bliffers family installing a burglar alarm not to prevent theft, but to convince neighbors they own valuables worth stealing—mocking conspicuous consumption and status anxiety among the wealthy. **Other anecdotes** poke fun at: - A woman reading Proverbs who bores her husband - A cigar smoker and non-smoker's conversation - Adam regretting marriage - A woman who saw a man "hanging on to the car-strap" (implying he's poor or common) - A comically literal "smart boy" employee who doesn't understand retail markup These are mild, domestic humor pieces targeting pretension, social climbing, and miscommunication—typical of Life magazine's early satirical style. The page is otherwise dominated by period advertisements for hats, pianos, perfume, and tailoring services.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
> LI PAYING FOR STYLE. MBS, BLIFFERS ; An agent for a new burglar-alarm was here to- day, and I told bim to call again when you were at home. Ma. BuirreRs: Huh! Burglaralarms! There is nothiog in this house to steal. “No, but when the neighbors hear we have fitted up our house with burglar alarms they will think we have something to steal, my dear."— Philadelphia Record. Ir was a quiet Sunday afternoon, and she was reading to him the Proverbs of Solomon. He was rapidly getting an attack of tempo- rary oblivion. |“ Aren't they wonderful, George ?” she said. “Yes, indeed,” he replied; ‘tif he had only misspelled his words, what a Josh Billings he would have made!"—New York Sun. CRrossHean: If you're going to light that cigar, I guess I'll get on the windward side of you. Litetop: Don't like cigar smoking, eh? Well, I thought every- one liked to smoke a good cigar: I'm sure I do! Crossan: So do I.— Yankee Blade. “I pon'T say marriage is a failure,” said Adam, candidly, as he sat down'on a log just outside the Garden of Eden and looked hun- grily at the fruit on the other side of the wall, **but if I had remained single this wouldn't have happened."—Chicago Tribune, FE: 265 “May [call on you occasionally, Miss De Lancey 2” said Bjones after the dance. ‘We seem already as old friends. Have I not seen you before ?” Yes was the cutting rej strap one day last week whil Evening Sun. ply, ** you saw me hanging on to the car- je you were sitting down."—New York Mrs, Jason: Jehiel, was there ever any such person as the fool- ier? Ma. Jason: What idiotic questions you do ask. dol know ? I never met him. Mrs, Jason: Oh, I know that !—7Zerra //aute Express, How the dickens A Sr. Louts dry goods house advertised for a “smart boy, and they got him, They put him behind the counter. The following conversation passed between him and his first customer : CUSTOMER (picking up a pair of gloves): What are these? Smart Boy : Gloves. R: Yes, yes: but what do you ask for them ? We don't ask for them at all ; customers do that, Customer: You don't understand me. How do they come? Smart Boy hy, they come in pairs, of course. Customer: No, no! How high do they come ? SMart Boy : Just above the wrist, I believe. Customer; But what do you get for them ? SMART Boy: Me? I don’t get nothing for them, the money. (Cusroure (losing patience) : What is the price of these gloves per Sair ? Smaxt Boy: Oh, that afore? One dollar.. Boss pockets all is it? Why didn't you say so gazine, Dr. D. G. Brinton, Philadelphia, says: “After trying any number of soaps, we have settled down on Packer’s Tar Soap as the best of all, whether as a toilet or a sur- gical soap. It is remarkably pure, cleansing, and healing; it is excellent in a large variety of skin diseases, among which we particularly name seborrhoea of the scalp, dandruff, chafing, and itching, all of them very common and very obstinate. It contains the balsamic virtues of the pine in a high degree, and is soft and refreshing to the skin."— Vide Medical and Surgical Reporter, Phila. and 181 Broadwa: JOHN PATT PERFUMES EDENIA Goya Lily. Nos, 25 and NEW gr JENLApX Co isaisanlle CELEBRATED HATS LADIES’ ROUND HATS. 178 & 180 Fifth Ave., bet. 22d & 23d Sts., NEW YORK. Palmer House, Chicago. Tailors and Importers, Patterson Building, KRAKAUER LADIES’ TAILOR. 19 East 2ist St., New York. NEW CLOTHS, NEW STYLES, AUTUMN AND WINTER. Ne AND y. near Cortlandt St., 94 Chestout St., Phila, ERSON & CO., Perfumery Guerlain. THE BEST. Most Delicate. Most Lasting. Bold by PARK & TILFORD AND ALL FANCY GOODS DE. PIANOS C.C.BRIGGS &62 “5 APPLETON ST. BOSTON MASS. MANUFACTURERS OF 27 W. 26th St. YORK. GRACEFUL DesIgN§ ++ SOLD (ONSTRUCTION MAT(HLESS TONE ++ BEAUTIFUL FINISH. comicbooks.com