Life, 1890-08-28 · page 7 of 16
Life — August 28, 1890 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 105 **"The Obdurate Father"** (top left cartoon): A dialogue joke about why a horse's tail is docked. Uncle Ben explains it's "stylish now," but the humor derives from the absurdist logic—the veterinary surgeon docks horses' tails, so people assume it must be fashionable. This satirizes blind conformity to arbitrary trends without questioning their origins. **"The Revolving Chair"** (right panel): Three sequential cartoon panels showing a man attempting to use a revolving chair, apparently struggling with or being comically defeated by this piece of furniture. This likely mocks the newfangled office technology of the era, suggesting modern innovations could be impractical or ridiculous. Both cartoons employ gentle satire typical of Life's humor style.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“WHY 1s THE HORSE'S TAIL DOCKED, UNcLe BeRt?” “ON, THAT'S BECAUSE IT 18 STYLISH Now.” “WHO pocks HORSES’ TAILS?" “THE VETERINARY SURGEON. “Dip We pocK THE Goat's TALL?" “WHo pip? “Wet, Gop pip 1." “Does Gop DOCK THE GOATS’ TAILS BECAUSE IT's THE STYLE Now?” at them—chapters in which hazy characters talk and talk in formula * which have little significance to foreigners. . . . ]* conclusion one may mildly protest against the seems mainly sad in Trezza, because life is mainly sad everywhere.” Even the old Padron 'Ntont from his bed in the hospital, would have pre tested against it—when he recalled the joy of his youth, the strength of his manhood, the long years of happiness in the house by the medlar-tree before there came the series of disasters which ended it all. We can only say that “life is mainly sad everywhere,” when we balance a day of sorrow against a week of pleasure—and that is what we try so hard to do. As Ibsen says: “We call this world a vale of tears, and try our best to make it one.” Droch. NEW BOOKS. THE TOLTEC CUP. By Nym Crinkle, New York: Lew Vanderpoole Publishing pant Around the Werld in Seventy-two Days, By Nellie Bly. New York: The Pictorial Weeklies Company. Can Love Sin? By Mark Douglas. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson and Brothers. Ipples of Eden. By Estelle, New York: The Minerva Publishing Company. Mlustrated Guide of Geneva, New York: World Travel Company, Al Sorts and Conditions of Men, By Walter Besant, New York: Harper and Brothers, With the Best Intentions, By Marion Harland, New Yori; Charles Scribner's Sons, and Other Poems. By Rufus Cyrene Macdonald, Boston; W. B. Clarke and Company. Me and Chummy. By Coyne Fletcher, Washington: Sterling Publishing Company. The Preachers. By a Monk. New York: Minerva Publishing Company. 105 THE OBDURATE FATHER. EVER think your child above Him who would adore When you will not let her love, She but loves the more. THE REVOLVING CHAIR. comicbooks.com