Life, 1890-12-25 · page 39 of 51
Life — December 25, 1890 — page 39: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate satirical jokes typical of early 20th-century American humor: 1. **"Where They Have to Go for It"**: A joke about class differences. A wealthy man claims his lunch is "thrown to me" at a Park Row restaurant, implying he's so important he's served without asking. The humor mocks pretentiousness. 2. **"Holiday Time"**: A detailed crowd scene showing a chaotic public gathering (likely a holiday shopping or entertainment venue), satirizing holiday excess and urban congestion. 3. **"A Case of Aggravated Sang Froid"**: A dialogue joke about a houseguest so composed and confident that he makes the host feel uncomfortable in his own home—the ironic definition of "sang froid" (cool composure) taken to absurd extremes. 4. **Bottom section**: A joke about a struggling writer negotiating with an editor who pays only "on publication." The writer sarcastically accepts, joking he'll skip life insurance for his children since he apparently won't earn money anyway. It satirizes the financial precarity of writers and publishers' exploitative practices.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE: 25 WHERE THEY HAVE TO GO FOR IT. 5: Where do you go for lunch ? : Idon’t go for it, at all; it's thrown to me. leat ata Park Row restaurant. SIGN PAINTER: Now, Missus Johnsing, what does you want put on dis yer s Missus JOHN: after a moment of decp thought): \ guess “ Goin’ out scrubbin’ done in here” will do. $© 7 SELL you dot dog for a kervarter.” “ But I don't want a cavorter. 1 want a setter.” HOLIDAY TIME, A CASE OF AGGRAVATED SANG FROID. HE: He is a person of perfect ease and self-possession, and is thoroughly at home anywhere. He: Yes, he even has the faculty of making you feel a total stranger in your own house. OU must understand,” said the Editor, “that we pay only on publication.” “Very well, sir,” returned the Bard; “that will suit me exactly. | had thought of taking out an insurance policy for my children’s benefit, but this arrangement will do equally well.” comicbooks.com