Life, 1889-08-08 · page 12 of 16
Life — August 8, 1889 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page 82: Satirical Sketches This page contains four unrelated satirical vignettes mocking Victorian-era social pretensions and immigrant stereotypes: **"Suits to Suit"**: A doting mother wants to dress her unruly son in a "Little Lord Fauntleroy" suit—a fashionable but overly delicate children's style. The joke satirizes parents who prioritize genteel appearance over their child's actual nature; the boy resists measurement, calls the tailor "an ole hog," and misbehaves. **"An Excuse"**: A boy caught skipping Sunday school invents an elaborate lie about running so hard he sweated profusely and literally fell upside-down in his trousers. It mocks children's transparent deceptions. **"Restricted Liberty"**: Irish immigrant characters ("Rourke," "Houlihan") complain that despite America being a "free country," English-descended Americans ("descendants av thim bloody English") restrict their freedom as much as anyone else—satirizing nativist attitudes toward Irish immigrants. **"Taking a Drop Too Much"**: A cityscape cartoon (caption only visible) likely mocks urban drunkenness. The page reflects turn-of-century American anxieties about class, immigration, and child-rearing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE: SUITS TO SUIT. DORING MOTHER: A You sell children’s clothes here, I be- lieve? MERCHANT TAILOR: Yes, Madam, we have every late style of boys’ suits. ADORING MoTHER: Come here, dear, I'm going to get you some nice new clothes. LittLe Boy: Let: me ‘lone. I'm playin’ with the cat. Hear ‘er yow, ma, when I pull ‘er tail. ADORING MOTHER: Don't hurt the Kitty, pet, come here and let the gentleman take your measure. “ LitTLe Boy: I won't. MERCHANT TAILOR: It will only take a moment, sonny, LITTLE Boy: Git away, you ole hog. ADORING MOTHER: Oh, you shouldn't speak so, my darling, it isn't nice at all. LittLe Boy: I will. 5 MERCHANT TAILOR: Perhaps I can get his fit without measuring. What style of suit do you wish? ADORING MOTHER: A Little Lord Fauntleroy. What's the matter? You look flushed. I'm hot! Just got my ice-bill ! iS) HE AN INVITATION DECLINED WITHOUT THA! AN EXCUSE. “1 DON'T BELIEVE YOU MAVE BEEN TO THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL. BEEN IN SWIMMING. YOUK HAIR 18 WET AND YOUR RS ARE HINDPART FOREMOST. WELL, YOU $I Mar, | WAS RUNNIN’ SO HARD TER SUN- DAY-SCHOOL THAT MY HEAD GOT ALL WET WID PERSPIRATION AND THEN I FELL DOWN, AND I Was GOING So FasT I TURNED OVER IN MY TROUSERS. RESTRICTED LIBERTY. OULIHAN: Phwat's the matter, Teddy — Surely you're not goin’ back to Oirland ? Rourke; Bedad Oi am! I thought this was a free counthry, but the descind- ants av thim bloody English seem to have as much to say here as anyone else! NK3. “Mrs, Mac POWERS, DON'T BE AFTHER POKIN’ YER TONGUE OUT AT ME, BUT ACT LOIKE A LADY FOR WUNST AN’ COME OUTSIDE THE DOOR FOR A MOMENT AN’ O'ILL MAKE THE UGLY FACE O° YOU LOOK LOIKE THE Pan Hanote Route To CuHicaco!” “TAKING A DROP TOO MUCH.” comicbooks.com