Life, 1890-09-04 · page 12 of 16
Life — September 4, 1890 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page 124: Satirical Humor This page from *Life* magazine contains three separate humorous anecdotes with accompanying illustrations, typical of the publication's satirical format. **Top section**: A boy caught sneaking out at night claims his doctor advised outdoor air for rheumatism, but admits he's been wading in puddles—exposing the transparent lie parents recognize immediately. **Middle section**: A drunk man at a provincial theatre watches actress Fannie Davenport perform a tragic scene about lost love. When she declares "I can love you no longer," he takes it as a dismissal, tips his hat, and leaves—satirizing how alcohol impairs judgment and social awareness. **Bottom anecdotes**: A church member mocks her pastor as "The Apostle to the Genteel," suggesting his preaching prioritizes wealthy parishioners over genuine Christian values. The final joke plays on the marriage of deaf and dumb partners, treating their disabilities as punchline material in period-typical fashion. The illustrations by various artists provide visual humor supporting each verbal joke. The satire targets social hypocrisy, drunkenness, religious pretension, and human folly generally.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HE LOCKS UP. “17'S PRETTY DAMP FOR A PERSON WITH THE RUEUMATISM TO BE PROWLING AROUND, XCLE JosH.” g, Boss, BUT IT’S DER DOCTOR'S A DOSE FOR EACH ATTACK. * Do YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THE DOCTOR rn ‘. ADVISED YOU TO BE OUT NIGHTS 2” Johnnie (who got his feet wet and has just finished a hot punch given in consequence) TGR eG BLE AW aU HERA. I—I was IN Two PUDDLES, Mamata. i wus uate cuickex nRO.” A’ a provincial theatre, where Fannie Davenport was play- ing a tragic part, a very drunken man staggered down the aisle to a front seat in the orchestra. He watched the actress attentively, so much so that she caught his eye several times, and as she pro- nounced these words: “I can love you no longer,” the man rose, put on his hat, bowed profoundly to Miss Davenport, said with much drunken Phat settles it,” and left MEMBER of a certain fash- ionable New York church, whospoke of her pastor irreverently as “ The Apostle to the Genteels,”” remarked once after a particularly doctrinal sermon, that if Dr. Blank preached restitution instead of re- pentance he would preach to empty pews. T must be admitted that when a deaf man marries a dumb woman, the arrangements for a happy married life are rather over- “Sam, HAND ME DOWN “LeT HER Go.” done. THAT FLAIL.” comicbooks.com