Life, 1890-01-16 · page 5 of 14
Life — January 16, 1890 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 33 This page contains several social satirical items: **"Among the 400"** section mocks New York's wealthy elite. It reports on prominent society families and their activities with light ridicule—noting absurdities like boasting about ancestors and pretending to humble origins despite obvious wealth. **"A Freak of Heredity Exposed"** cartoon jokes about a blonde child born to dark-haired parents, questioning paternity with humor typical of period gossip columns. **"Sideboards"** is a brief humorous exchange about furniture removal. **"Two Schools of Training"** contrasts a Sunday-school teacher's optimism about reward with a mother's cynical expectation of physical punishment—satirizing different parenting philosophies. The overall tone targets aristocratic pretension and social hypocrisy through gentle mockery rather than sharp political critique.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A FREAK OF HEREDITY EXPOSED. Mrs. Hickes: WHAT A PRETTY BLONDE Miss Kinc-CHESTER 18! BUT SHE'S AN ANOMALY TO Me, I KNOW THE FAMILY WELL. ALL THE KINGS WERE BRUNETTES, AND THE CHESTERS WERE ALL DARK, TOO, WHERE CAN SHE GET HER LIGHT HAIR FROM? Atiss Wickes: From Paris. : Honesty is the best policy, my friend. Convict: | know it. REv. Dr. PRIMROSE: how did you get in here? Convict: Because | didn’t find it out till it was too late. EV. DR. PRIMROS. If that’s so, then 33 AMONG THE 400. R. WARD MCALLISTER takes himself seriously. Mrs. Shadleigh Carter has anew brougham. The coat- of-arms is an inch and three-quarters higher in the door panel than the old one was. Mr. P, Huntington Chyldes bears the same name as his grand- father, Philip H. Childs. Miss Tilly Ttayleure says, ** It is just fun to be rich enough to put on lots of style,and have other people look up to you, which they do, you know." There is no truth in the report that Alfred Tennyson said he deemed it a greater honor to be an acknowledged leader of New York fashionable society than poet laureate of England. Miss Sadie Van Trampe says, ‘This trying to poke fun at the descent of the Four Hundred is all very silly, as every one knows our ancestors came to this country to seek a society more congenial to their wealth and culture than Europe could offer." In giving the names of guests at Mrs. Humpsen Gray's ball last Wednesday the daily papers omitted several very important names. It gives us pleasure to satisfy the longings of an eager and intelligent public by rectifying the error: Mr. G, Playn- field Gybbes, Mr. \V. Phypps Hornblower, Mr. O, Skypson Hopper, and Mr. and Mrs. Ttuckur Jjohnson. The Gaspenhard Blynkers’ cat is well again. SIDEBOARDS. ADY (¢2 furniture store, to new clerk): Where are those handsome sideboards that you had last week? CLERK (embarrassed): Oh, 1—er—I shaved them off day afore yester- day, ma‘am. H ARVARD cleared nearly $12,000 this year on football, almost all from the proceeds of the Yale and Princeton games. And yet there are people who deny that Harvard is successful in athletics ! TWO SCHOOLS OF TRAINING. Mabel: SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER SAYS WE MUSTN'T COMPLAIN OF OUR LOT, AN’ THAT IF WE'RE GOOD WE'LL GET OUR REWARD HEREAFTER! Maud: MOTHER SAYS IF / AIN'T GOOD SHE'LL BREAK EVERY BONE IN MY BODY,