Life, 1890-11-20 · page 12 of 24
Life — November 20, 1890 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Explanation for Modern Readers This *Life* magazine page satirizes American social "degeneracy"—a late 19th/early 20th-century concern about declining vigor. **The main cartoon** contrasts past and present: ancestors ate hearty Thanksgiving feasts without worry; modern people nervously consume only light consommé (soup), obsessing over digestion and needing "pepsin tablets" (antacids). The joke mocks contemporary hypochondria and physical weakness. **The side comics** show working-class men in comedic situations—one offering a quarter for a hat, another juggling objects. These appear unrelated vignettes typical of *Life's* humor format. **"As the Funeral Goes By"** jokes darkly that Philadelphia's low death rate stems from citizens dying of *ennui* (boredom/apathy)—suggesting modern urban life is so tedious it's literally fatal. The page reflects period anxiety about whether modern civilization was making Americans physically and morally soft compared to hardier ancestors.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
DEGENERACY. HANKSGIVING DAY our fathers ate A generous store of meats and pies, And cach man cleared his well-heaped plate, As though a famine might arise. But in this pepsin-tablet day Our food lies heavy on our—breast ; We take a cup of consommé, And trembling, ‘ hope it will digest.” Harry Romaine. “TSAY, ME DEAH FELLAN, GET ME HAT AND I'LL GIVE You A QUARTAW.” AS THE FUNERAL GOES BY. She (entertaining her cousins): Yi PHILADELPHIA'S DEATH RATE 18 VERY SMALL, He: WAT 18 THE MOST PREVALENT CAUSE OF DEATH? She: Ennui. NEW BOOKS. “ALL RIGHT, HOSS. JUST HOLD DESE A MINUTE.” THE BOY TRAVELLERS 1N GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. By Thomas W. Knox. New York: Harper and Brothers The Tsar and His People. Wustrated, New York: Harper and Rrothers. Training for Health, Strength, Speed and Agility. By John P, Thorn- ton. New York: Excelsior Publishing House nta Claus ona Lark, and Other Christmas Stories. By Washington den, New York: The Century Company, Inother Brownie Book, By Palmer Cox. New York: The Century Company. Dreams of the Sea, Selected and arranged by Lula Mae Walker. Bos- ton 4 Lauriat. Through Thick and Thin: or, School Days at St. Eghert's, Edited by Lawrence H. Francis. Boston: Estes and Lauriat. Lalit, Pine Tree Coast, By Samuel Adams Drake, Boston: Estes and eauriat Chatterbox, 180. Boston: Estes and Lauriat. Lyrics for a Lute. By Frank Dempster Sherman, Boston and New i oe Yor: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. . Teton: The Knockabout Club in North Africa, By Fred A, Ober. Boston: Estes and Lauriat AND JUST AT THAT MOMENT SHE CAME BY! comicbooks.com