Life, 1889-01-10 · page 12 of 16
Life — January 10, 1889 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis for Modern Readers This page contains three separate satirical pieces from Life magazine: 1. **The Casino opera-glass editorial**: Mocks a vending machine concept (inserting coins for opera glasses) by sarcastically suggesting theaters should expand to vending machines for alcohol and snacks between acts—highlighting how theaters cater to audience desires for distraction rather than engagement with the performance. 2. **The shipwrecked Irishman cartoon**: Stereotypes Irish immigrants through dialect humor. An Irishman castaway insists he's from Ireland, but a native tells him "this is not New York City"—the joke being that Irish immigrants were so prevalent in New York that he expected to find fellow Irishmen there rather than an actual Irish island. 3. **The poker/New Year's Eve anecdote**: A player points out the moral impropriety of playing poker on New Year's Eve (a religious holiday), causing players to quit in embarrassment—satirizing selective piety and social hypocrisy around religious observance. All pieces mock contemporary social behavior through exaggeration and ethnic stereotyping common to 1880s-90s satire.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
6 - LIFE: - shows a grievous lack of grace, and grace is a very proper endowment for a Christian bishop. * * * HE Casino’s drop-a-quarter-in- the-slot opera-glass idea sug- gests a vast field for enterprise x in ministering to the wants of theatre-goers. The Sun has complained, with some vigor, of the men who go out be- tween the acts. Why go out a. at all? Why not “drop-a- NX>? dime-in-the-slot-and-take-out- a-glass-of-beer-and-a-sandwich; whiskey-straight-in-the- next-seat ; caramels-stored-in-right-arm-rest?” Instead of two companies squabbling over the opera-glass idea, let one of them start a new venture and supply something else. Man's necessities are manifold, and at the theatre, even when the play is good, it takes a great deal to make him happy; much more when the play is dull, as plays often are. * * * AURENCE OLIPHANT’S death is a notable one, ~ and again, in another sense, it is not important, because it is so slight a change. If there is any sense in his impressions as written and uttered, he has lived half in the other world for years. He has put himself on record. What was there to keep him here any longer? On the other hand, if his beliefs were delusions, his life, which was given over to them, had gone hopelessly astray, and was of no value. All the same, one of the world’s most interesting citizens has left it. ELS. M. Native: WHO ARE YOU AND WHERE DO YOU COME FROM? Shipwrecked Gentleman: Ot'M AN OIRISHMAN FROM OIRELAND. Native: YOU MUST HAVE MADE A MISTAKE, MY FRIEND, n ‘Shipwrecked Gentleman: Fwuy? wine. They grow” Native: Tuts 1s NoT New York City! SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO. Fond Father: BEGORRA, BRIDGET, BUT Hf PULLS LIKE A SHTAME INGIN’, WHAT COMPANY HE’LL BE FOR BOTH IV US WHIN HE CAN DRINK AND SWEAR A BIT! A SACRILEGIOUS PO- SITION. ¢¢ (S ENTLEMEN,” said a member of a poker party, suddenly but solemnly, “is it possible that we have all forgotten that we're play- ing poker on New Year's k= Eve? A hush fell upon the room. “Gentlemen,” said Brown, as he rose from the table, “you must excuse me, I can play no mere to-night.” Presently another one dropped out, and in a short time the room was empty, with the exception of the one who had “busted” them all. RAVGAWH ae ICH relatives are like & dearer with age.