Life, 1890-05-01 · page 10 of 18
Life — May 1, 1890 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page 258: LIFE Magazine Satirical Content This page contains several brief satirical pieces rather than political cartoons: **"THOUGHTS"** — A poem about romantic rumination and missed conversational opportunities between a man and woman. **"AMERICANS ABROAD"** — A cartoon showing a husband telling his wife not to waste time sightseeing, to look at "the view." The satire mocks American tourists' dismissal of foreign attractions in favor of leisurely pursuits. **"EXPLAINED"** and other short humor pieces below mock legal proceedings, quack medicine salesmen, and social pretensions—typical early-20th-century Life magazine fare. The content reflects Life's focus on domestic humor, romantic comedies, and gentle social satire rather than sharp political commentary. The drawings use simple line-work characteristic of the era's magazine illustration style.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
258 THOUGHTS. A MIDNIGHT REVERIE, “T° HOUGHTS! I've thought you all before ! What we said when last we met ! What she said the time before ! What I meant to say and didn't! How she looked, and what she wore! Questions I forgot to ask ! Answers commonplace or flat, Given too quick to catch the thought, Answering thought with thoughtless chat. Did [catch a hidden sense While she talked of woe and weal, Using words that meant but nought, Voice and eyes that meant a deal? Does she think of me to-night? And, if so, what thought, forsooth ? And, if not at all, should I Wish to know that horrid truth? Thoughts! Your repetitions tire! Thoughts! You're stale, you're ancient lore ! AMERICANS ABROAD. Plague of lovers since the Fall! Husband; COME, COME, MY DEAR, DON'T WASTE VALUABLE TIME THINKING ; LOOK Thoughts! I've thought you all before ! AEE IEW TOI AE NEY EXPLAINED. UDGE (¢o witness): You say that the defendant was born deaf and dumb, and at the age of twelve he lost the power of speech. Will you explain to the Court how it was possible for him to lose the power of speech when he was already dumb? Witness: When he was twelve years old he was playing in a saw mill one day and the buzz-saw took off eight of his fingers. DISAPPOINTMENT. “11's No Use waitin’, TiLLy, I cAN*r come ouT; I've just REEN SPANKED, AN' I'VE GOT TER GO TO RED WITHOUT ANY SUP- PER, AN’ BESIDES MOTHER'S TOOK ALL MY CLOTHES AWAY AN’ HID tem, Giv JiMsy MY LOVE AN’ TELL HIM HOw IT Is!" WELL NAMED, Cobwiccer : Quack should be prosecuted for obtaining money under false pretenses. That nostrum of his is no good, Brown: Pshaw! Didn't he sell it to you as a skin cure? A BENEVOLENT WISH. UMSO: My dear, do you think that our occupations in the next world will be the same as in this ? Mrs. Cumso: Well, I should be sorry to think you would smoke as much there as here. A LITERARY SCANDAL. ID you hear-of the discovery they have made about Mark Twain ?” “No. What?” “All his books were written by a man named Clemens.” CLEANING LITERATURE. “THE Clean Literature movement seems to pro- gress.” I see a prominent soap man gives away a hook with every bar he sells— just to show I sup- pose what his soap can do.” EXCUSING HIMSELF. N RS. BROWN: Did you pick up that tack I dropped on the floor ? . Brown: Yes; but I didn’t mean to. TOO MUCH FOR OUR UNDERSTANDING mud in Broadway. comicbooks.com