Life, 1890-06-05 · page 13 of 16
Life — June 5, 1890 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top three comic strips titled "The Power of Music" show a figure progressively energized by musical sound, culminating in violent action—a visual joke about music's transformative (and chaotic) effect on behavior. The "Open Postal Cards" section contains satirical fake postcards mocking political figures and delays. One card jokes about Senator Quay's reluctance to leave office ("die in office"). Another mocks the slow postal service by referencing a letter from March 1889 arriving in 1899—a decade late. A third satirizes President McKinley's low public visibility, suggesting Edison's magnifying glass could make him visible to citizens. The bottom cartoon uses racist dialect to depict a transaction about sarsaparilla tonic—a patent medicine claiming to purify blood and improve complexion. The humor derives from the customer's distinction between blood purity and complexion improvement, likely reflecting contemporary attitudes about race and medicine marketing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
* LIFE: THE POWER OF MUSIC. OPEN POSTAL CARDS. Fa My Dear Quay: JUNE 1, 1899. Don't resign. Die in office and be quick about it. Yours ever, i CARLYLE SwuTH. Dearest John: . JUNE 1, 1890. The letter you mailed me from the Postmaster-General’s office on March sth, 1889, has just reached me. If you get this card before you go out of office in "93, please regard it as an acceptance of the appointment. Love to the Presi- dent. c. s. M1. My Dear Mr. President : JUNE 1, 1890. I have seen Edison, He suggests that if you stand behind a magnifying glass fifteen feet in circumference, well up toward the glass, people with weak eyes will be able to see you at a distance of four feet. The cost should be def.ayed by the Government for the sake of appearances. Yours truly, CARLYLE. “HAR YO’ GOT ANY MEDICINE DAT WILL PURIFY DE BLOOD?” “YES, WE KEEP THIS SARSAPARILLA, AT ONE DOLLAR A BOTTLE, IT PURIFIES THE BLOOD AND CLEARS THE COM- PLEXION.” “WELL, BOSS, HASN'T YO' GOT SUMFIN’ FO" ABOUT FIFTY CENTS, JESS FO" DE BLOOD? I DON'T KEER ABOUT DE COM- PLEXION.” comicbooks.com