Life, 1890-11-27 · page 13 of 20
Life — November 27, 1890 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine presents several unrelated satirical sketches typical of early 20th-century American humor. **Top cartoon** ("Circumstantial Evidence"): A series of vignettes showing a woman and man on a sofa in increasingly compromising positions, with the caption suggesting circumstantial evidence of impropriety—a joke about how innocent situations can appear scandalous to observers. **Middle sections** include brief comedic exchanges: Ward McAllister (a prominent New York society figure) asking about the propriety of divided skirts (a women's fashion controversy of the era); a hotel clerk's cryptic warning about "gas" (likely coal gas used for lighting); and a drowning man's dark joke about a post office. The text also praises theatrical characters from contemporary plays as authentic American types "before they have completely disappeared." **Overall context**: This represents *Life*'s mix of social satire, fashion commentary, and puns typical of Edwardian-era American humor—much focused on propriety, class markers, and wordplay that required period knowledge to fully appreciate.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Nurse: OW, MATA; THE BARY'S SUCKED ALL THE PAINT OFF THAT NEW TOY IS UNCLE GAVE ttt t Mother: Vow awrun!t Bachelor Uncle: Never Mixon; 1 pion't ray very MUCH FOR IT, “A Brass Monkey,” Deacon Tidd in“ A Mid- night Bell,” and Afaverick Brander in “A Texas Steer" are as clearly-drawn character pictures as any that have ever come from the work of an American dramatist. We are to be congratu- lated that these types have been caught and crystal- lized before they have completely disappeared before the conventionalizing tendency of Anglo- American culture. Metcalfe. CARRIED, MEM. CON. ARD MCALLISTER: Do you really think, now, that there is any inherent impropriety in wearing the divided skirt? ORDINARY LAYMAN: Oh, | think you might wear it with perfect propriety, Mr. McAllister. INFORMATION WANTED. ue ON'T blow out the gas,” remarked the hotel clerk, after Mr. Chestnut, of Philadelphia, had registered. “Gas?” replied Mr. Chestnut, wonderingly, “what's that?” HE'D NEVER GET IT. ROP mea line,” yelled the drowning man What's the use ? ” said the humorist on the dock. “ There's no post-office where you are going.” 6“ -LIFE- CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE. comicbooks.com