Life, 1889-04-04 · page 12 of 20
Life — April 4, 1889 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page 200 Analysis: Life Magazine Satire This page contains three distinct satirical pieces: **"Her First Visit to Church"**: A child's innocent misunderstanding—she mistakes a priest in vestments for a man in a nightgown hurrying away, poking fun at religious formality and children's literalism. **"Prestidigitateur" cartoon**: A magician claims to have extracted something from a starving man's stomach. The underfed gentleman, in broken English, sarcastically asks the magician to put "the rabbit back agin stewed"—mocking both the magician's trick and implying he's so desperately hungry he'd eat anything, even a rabbit. **"Phineas" section**: A mock-biblical tribute to P.T. Barnum (appears likely, given references to his circus: elephants, camels, jugglers, tigers, Arabs, and "the greatest show on earth"). The language parodies the King James Bible to humorously glorify Barnum's showmanship and elaborate attractions. The page satirizes fraud, poverty, and consumer spectacle through humor and exaggeration.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HER FIRST VISIT TO CHURCH. (In a stage whisper): “OH, MAMMA, THAT GENTLEMAN WAS IN AN AWFUL HURRY.” “Husi!” “But, MAMMA, HE HAS COME IN HIS NIGHT-GowN.” Prestidigitateur : THERE, SIR; 1 HAVE TAKEN THIS OUT OF YOUR STOMACH ! Underfed Gentleman : WELL, BOSS, SINCE YER WUS SO CLEVER AS TER TAKE IT OUT, TRY IF YER CAN'T PUT THE RABBIF BACK AGIN stewed, Tig: i i\* PHINEAS. 1, MIGHTY art thou, O, Phineas, and greatest among them who come out from the valley of Bridgeport. 2. For thou makest the children of Gotham to rejoice and the little kids to clap their hands with glee. 3. The trunks of thy elephants are like in size unto those of Saratoga, and thy camels hump themselves for all they are worth, 4. Thy jugglers are jugglers from Jugglersville, and mighty in the jugular vein. 5. Dexterous and graceful are thy handmaids who throw the knives. 6. Thy tigers are tigers of note, yet not to be propitiated by peace-offerings of blue chips. 7. Thy Arabs are indeed Arabs and from far-off coun- tries; yea, even from countries beyond Hester Street and the Bowery. 8. The Mary of other days had one little ewe lamb; thy handmaid hath three wise sheep, yea, too wise to be hung for mutton, 9. Gorgeous is the raiment of thy servants; yea, more gorgeous than that of the daughters of Baxter Street. 10. Loud are thy trumpets of brass and loud are thy brazen cymbals, louder than a barrel of tom-cats or the spring suit of a dude. 11, Yea, Phineas, mighty art thou among men, and thou hast not borne false witness more than was fit, for verily thy caravan is the greatest show on earth. Metcalfe. * * * EW YORKERS should congratulate themselves on the return to them of two such artists as Mr. and Mrs. Henschel. Their recitals are of great musical in- terest, as they not only give us programmes of wide range and variety, but they have the added charm of novelty and originality, introducing many rare and beautiful songs from old composers, as well as from the modern French school. Moreover, the compositions of Mr. Henschel are the des- pair of singers not gifted with Mrs. Henschel’s wonderful technique. Let us hope they will look with favor upon this city, and long remain with us, for they stand unrivaled in the field of song. * * R. KELLAR, with his magic, is still bewildering crowded houses at Dockstader’s. The emotional \ members of the audience attribute these mysterious behav- ings to clairvoyance and spiritualism; others to electricity and every-day science. The results are certainly surprising, whatever the means employed. comicbooks.com