Life, 1888-12-27 · page 29 of 43
Life — December 27, 1888 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two satirical pieces from Life magazine targeting theatrical society: **Top cartoon**: British aristocrats return from New York, dismissing the city as merely "an enormous town with ash-barrels and garbage in front of the houses"—mocking upper-class snobbery and their obliviousness to actually seeing America. **Main content**: A mock "Christmas stocking gifts" list for prominent stage performers of the era. The humor lies in personalized insults disguised as presents. Examples: Henry Irving gets "symmetrical legs" (implying awkwardness), Lillie Langtry receives "an absolute divorce" (referencing her scandalous personal life), and De Wolf Hopper gets a Giants baseball catchership (unclear without more context, but likely a contemporary reference). The list satirizes vanity, scandals, and perceived shortcomings of 1880s-90s theater celebrities. The final aphorism about pennies "urned in a bank-failure" references contemporary banking collapses, adding topical economic commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
*LIFE: 13 >| ne AFTER THEIR RETURN. The Baronet: 1 SEE THERE HAS BEEN A GREAT FIRE IN NEw York, The Lady Frances: IN New YorRK? Fancy! We saw New YorxK, DIDN’T WE? The Baronet: WHY, OF COURSE, MY DEAR. WE WERE THERE A WEEK. Don'T YOU REMEMBER AN ENORMOUS TOWN WITH ASH- BARRELS AND GARBAGE IN FRONT OF THE HOUSES? WHAT THE STAGE-FOLK MAY FIND IN THEIR STOCKINGS. ENRY IRVING—A pair of symmetrical legs. MAURICE BARRYMORE—A copy of the Marquis of Queensberry rules. A.M. PALMER—The thanks of the widow and the orphan, MME. BERNHARDT—A bottle of Anti-fat. FANNIE DAVENPORT—A ‘bottle of Anti-lean. AuGustin DALV—Hand-embroidered text, “ Well done, Good and Faithful Servant!" Mary ANDERSON—A general thawing out. HENRY ABBEY—Quart bottle of Bings’s Radical Cure for Big-Head. THE CHoRUS—The gift of perpetual youth. MEssRS. BOOTH AND BARRETT—Some of Irving's genius for stage-mounting. Mrs. Potrer—Ability. JouHN GILBERT—Another fifty years of health and strength. Harry Miner—Receipts in full from the nurses he sent to Florida. COLONEL McCAULL—A complimentary notice in the New York 77mes, FRANCIS WILSoN—Another part like Caddy. ADA REHAN—Our best regards. LITTLE CORINNE—A nomination to the first vacancy in an old ladies’ home. THE GENTLEMEN IN THE BOX-OFFICE—The final in- terment of all dead-heads. E, H. SOTHERN—A higher bid. W. H. GILLETTE—The degree of Master of American Drama. THE SINGERS AT THE METROPOLITAN—The gallery people put in the boxes, and the box people on the roof. DE WoLr Hopper—An honorary catchership in the Giants of 1889. KyRLE BELLEW—A visitor's ticket to the Tuxedo Club- house. Mrs. LANGTRY—An absolute divorce, bound in plush. Aponis Dixey—Four aces every time. Metcalfe. PENNY saved is often a penny urned in a bank- failure. comicbooks.com