Life, 1890-11-06 · page 9 of 18
Life — November 6, 1890 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis: Life Magazine #255 This page contains humorous sketches and brief comedic dialogues rather than political cartoons. **"The Gentle Art"** (top left) shows a couple reading aloud together, with the caption sarcastically noting that one "almost expects the characters to stop talking and do something"—mocking the tedium of domestic reading sessions. **"Rejoice for Small Favors"** features dialogue between characters discussing Congress leaving Washington, with one character (identified as "old Mugwump") expressing relief at their departure. **"Terrible"** presents a darker joke about a Spinard Line ship breaking its record with a man lost at sea—the punchline being that rats made his death "unnecessary," suggesting the ship was rat-infested enough to have killed him anyway. The right side shows various maritime comic sketches, all emphasizing nautical misadventures and gallows humor typical of early 20th-century Life magazine humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Penelope (who ts reading aloud one of Howells's novels): Ts CHAPTER IS SUPERB! Phyllis: N€S; ONE ALMOST EXPECTS THE CHARACTERS TO STOP TALKING AND DO SOMETHING. REJOICE FOR SMALL FAVORS. ‘© 7 SEE Congress is over and the members have left Washington.” “Well,” said the old Mugwump, “I'm glad they've left something.” TERRIBLE. ELL, I see the Spinagd.tine has at last broken its record and lost a life” ; “ Man washed overboard ? "== ‘0. Starved to death.” = “ Awful. Was he buried at sea?” ‘ “He was to have been but the rats made it unnecessary.” comicbooks.com