Life, 1891-05-28 · page 17 of 18
Life — May 28, 1891 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon ("What's the Difference?"):** This satirizes French affectation and pretension. A Frenchman (Monsieur Asphalt) complains about an egg to a waiter in broken English, using exaggerated French pronunciation ("Vataire"). The joke's punchline appears to contrast civilized French dining complaints with Native Americans hunting—suggesting both situations involve similar crude behavior, undermining French superiority. The Frenchman's dictionary-studying implies his affected manner masks simple ignorance. **Bottom Section:** This is a department store advertisement for Deutsch & Co., located at Fifth Avenue and 22nd Street in New York. It advertises women's clothing (silk dusters, jackets, traveling coats, capes, dresses, hats, bonnets) at reduced prices due to "extensive alterations." The trade mark guarantees "workmanship and exclusive design." This is primarily commercial content rather than political satire.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? Monsieur Asphalt: VATAIRE! VATAIRE! TAKE ZEE EGG AVAY. Wailers: RNY NHAT IW RONG WETILAT SRT TUEY, TOO, WENT TO HUNT THE INDIAN ON HIS NATIVE HE : Monsieur Asphalt (who has been studying his dictionary): AW—1T MEY) TOO), WES ml SRIAN OS HEATH UT EEST—AN—IT EEST A VICKED EGG, WHEN THEY HEARD HIS WAR WHOOP: soho Nm Ise Corn 229%? ST. IN CONSEQUENCE OF EXTENSIVE ALTERATIONS, —er rrr BARGAINS — WORTH ~——m DOVBLE SILKDUSTERS. IS BOW-KNOT JACKETS. 18 °2ur TRAVELING COATS. 15 2fur 25 eur HATS & BONNETS. 10 ur Se OURTRADE MARK comicbooks.com