Life, 1891-07-16 · page 3 of 16
Life — July 16, 1891 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page (Volume XVIII, No. 446) This page contains three brief satirical sketches typical of Life's humor: 1. **"A Chance to Get Even"**: A hotel proprietor jokes about a dressmaker who boarded with him—he'll "make a memorandum" to settle accounts before season's end, implying unpaid debts. 2. **"Those Reliable Horse Advertisements"**: A visual joke about exaggerated horse advertisements, showing an absurdly overloaded cart pulled by horses, mocking the unrealistic claims in classified ads. 3. **"From the South Sea Islands"**: A brief exchange where a summer girl complains about mosquitoes, and someone named Smirke darkly jokes that her uncle will likely die—"it's the poor one"—suggesting morbid humor about inheritance. These represent genteel, turn-of-century American magazine humor targeting everyday social hypocrisies and minor tragedies.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ary ple FOR FUTURE REFERENCE, He: 8 YOUR FATHER WEALTHY ? She: Yes. He: 18 we ov? She: Very. He: MoTHeR DEAD? She: Yes. He: Is YOUR TEMPER GooD? She: THEY say so. He: WELL, ULL MAKE A MEMORANDUM, AND. ¥ Wap L MAY SEE YOU AGAIN BEFORE THE CLOSE OF THE SEASON. A CHANCE TO GET EVEN. ~UMMER HOTEL PROPRIETOR: My dear, I've got a piece of good news. His Wire: Do tell me, quick. PRoprieroR: Your dressmaker has engaged board with me fora month. ch maroon The Coes THOSE RELIABLE HORSE ADVERTISEMENTS. -peatest post attrac \ckage ver it coms ny othe 5° Tee Tl gerne tahoe f 2; SMC aes FROM THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. Y ‘ si First Summer Girl (reading Jashion paper): Dt- yavcerst. \ \ A ry COLLETE DRESSES WILL BE WORN LOWER THIS SUM- y ” . MER THAN EVER BEFORE. Second Summer Girl: Dean met AND THE MOSQUITOES ARE AWFUL AT THIS RESORT ! URKE: Do you think your uncle will die ? SMIRKE: I’m afraid so. It’s the poor “CAN TROT IN 2 35." comicbooks.com