Life, 1889-03-21 · page 7 of 20
Life — March 21, 1889 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis: Life Magazine, Page 165 The main illustration depicts two young women in Victorian-era dress, with the caption about Miss Penelope Peckham scolding Miss Dolly Flicker for drinking champagne, which was considered improper behavior for unmarried girls at the time. Miss Flicker's defiant response—"It may be bad form, but it's good taste"—satirizes the tension between rigid social propriety and personal pleasure among the era's youth. Below are three brief satirical anecdotes: one mocking hotel clerks' euphemistic treatment of clergy ("prominent rivals"), another joking darkly about a physician's skeleton, and a final quip about Tom Spendall confusing checks with cheques—a play on words about financial irresponsibility. The overall theme concerns social hypocrisy and the gap between appearance and reality in Victorian society.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ay): x OF Miss Penelope Peachblow: 1 AM SORRY YOU WERE QUITE SO JOLLY, AS IT IS CONSIDERED BAD FORM NOW FOR GIRLS TO DRINK MUCH CHAMPAGNE. Miss Dolly Flicker: Vv MAY BE BAD FORM, BUT IT’S GOOD TASTE. BETTER THAN NOTHING. INISTER (¢o hotel clerk): Do you have special rates for ministers of the Gospel ? CLERK: Yes, we have. We make no money reduction, but we give their names as “ Prominent .{ rrivals”’ to the reporters. DORS DEATH END ALL? A YOUNG physician was owing a friend a recent purchase that he had made in the way of a skeleton. ~. Very interesting,” commented his friend. “One of your patients, doctor?” OM SPENDALL, whose extravagance was checked by his father, says there is a big difference between a check and a cheque. THE LAP OF LUXURY.