Life, 1889-03-07 · page 8 of 18
Life — March 7, 1889 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 136 This page contains two distinct pieces: **"A Kindergarten Series"** presents children's retellings of the Washington cherry-tree legend, showing how the story gets garbled through retelling—each child adds or changes details, ultimately distorting the original moral tale about honesty. **"A Lucky Find"** depicts a winter scene where people have discovered a frozen dead body in ice, with one character exclaiming they've found "the loveliest pair o' skates"—a dark humor cartoon playing on the macabre discovery and the speaker's obliviousness or morbid priorities. **"Sea Serpent"** shows a fantastical creature in water while men skate nearby; the creature humorously claims this is "the first chance for a month I've had to draw a long breath"—anthropomorphizing the mythical beast with exasperation. The page blends educational content with satirical humor typical of Life magazine's style.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A KINDERGARTEN SERIES. i OW, children,” after reading the old story of Washington’s exploit with his hatchet, “write me all you can remember of that pretty story I have just read to you.” THE RESULT. SLATE I. (Teddy, eight years old): Georg Wash- inton is our father did he tell a lie no he never did he did it with is hachit. State II. (Ethel, seven): gorge washinton was the father of is contre hes father sed did you do it he sed i wud not lie i did it with mi Hathit and then he busted is teers. SLATE IIL. (Georgée, nine): George Washington is the father of our country and he did it with his hatchit and he said father I did it did the boy deny it o no did he try to put it on some other feller No He did not tell no lie he bust into tears. LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON. M ADAME PAINE: Don't you think Miss Grace is a very bright little lady ? Dr. PAINE (dryly): Yes; often too bright. I sometimes’ wonder if her humor does not amount to a disease. M.D., Jr. (eéght years old): Perhaps she has Bright's disease, papa. A LUCKY FIND. “HEMLY, COME HERE, QUICK, AFORE THE CORONER COMES; HERE'S A HACCIDENT FROZEN DEAD WITH THE LOVELIEST PAIR O' SKATES ON YER EVER SEE!" comicbooks.com