Life, 1890-07-31 · page 5 of 16
Life — July 31, 1890 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 47 **Main Cartoon ("Fresh Fish"):** This satirical illustration depicts a fishmonger displaying his wares. The caption suggests the man represents someone taking a "geography lesson" from Nevermore (likely a literary reference), comparing his memories of schoolboy days to summer's return. The passage uses allegory—the "fresh fish" stand symbolizes how childhood innocence gets lost or corrupted in adulthood. The actual joke appears obscure without fuller context. **"One Author Avenged":** A brief comedic dialogue between a Publisher and Assistant about discovering a dead writer's manuscript titled "The Comforts of The Modern Horse-Cars." The humor lies in the ironic timing—publishing work about horse-cars (outdated by the modern era) as a "comfort," suggesting unintentional absurdity through temporal displacement. Both pieces reflect Life's characteristic blend of visual and textual satire targeting social pretension and cultural shifts.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
CHEEKY, F “dans l'amour My a toujours” — The proverb isn’t new— ‘Lun qui batse"— For so it says— “Lt Vautre qui tend la joue.” It seems to me, Ma chive amie, The one to kiss I'd seek To be, and so I'd like to know If you'll supply the cheek ? Wm, B. MeVickar. A SEEMING ERROR. LEVERTON: I see the “papers are criticising your grammar in our inter- view the other day. You had asked Travers to dinner and you said “I don't see why Travers don't come” in- stead of “doesn’t come.” DasHAWAY = (gloomy): Those editors don’t know Travers. When I ask him to dinner I always referto him as plural. A VACATION AND THE RESULT. Two weeks ( Maid one. at 5 Bar Harbor: ( Maid won. N.Y., Six { Made one. months later: ¢ RC. WHaT HAVE WE HERE—WHY STANDS YON MAN AGHAST? VERILY, FRIEND, IT 18 BECAUSE HE 1S TAKING AN OBJECT LESSON IN © OUT OF THE SHADOWY REALMS OF NEVERMORE FLOATS BACK TO HIM THE MEMORY OF HIS SCHOOLNOY DAYS, AND THE HUM OF THE RATTAN SWITCH RISES IN THE SOFT SUMMER AIR, AND BEHOLD, EVEN NOW IT IS SUMMER—MIDSUMMER, Toxrip! SHE CAN SEE, THERE COMETH A MIGHTY HOT TOE CAPRICORN AND CANCER. WHAT CHILDHOOD'S SIMPLE FAITH ACCEPTED WITHOUT QUESTION, IT HATH EEN VOUCHSAFED THE EYE OF MANHOOD TO REHOLD! ONE AUTHOR AVENGED. REAT PUBLISHER: Ha! I see De Writer is dead. Haven't we a manu- script of his? ASSISTANT (looking over the records). Yes, sir; here is one accepted and paid for years ago. PUBLISHER: Good, Get it ready for publication at once, with a sketch of his life, and-—— ASSISTANT: But—but, wait. My! my! I'm afraid this has been kept too SOMETHING NEW IN DRESS Goons. long. Itis entitled: ‘The Comforts of The Modern Horse-Cars.” comicbooks.com