Life, 1891-12-17 · page 5 of 14
Life — December 17, 1891 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page 357 - Analysis This page contains three distinct satirical pieces: 1. **"A Picture with a Moral"**: A large illustration warns against "yawns too freely behind those gauze fans." Van Smythe is disposing of his last two mustache whisps, musing that hair reminds him "most painfully of a fool and his money." 2. **"Off On a Bust"**: A cartoon showing an explosion, likely satirizing reckless behavior or excess. 3. **"At the Newspaper Office"**: A dialogue joke where a visitor requests old newspaper files. The fresh clerk advises using "a porous plaster," making a pun on "files" (documents versus parasitic insects). 4. **"And So You Were Ruined by Fast Horses?"**: A street scene where someone attributes their downfall to fast horses; the response "No; by slow ones" delivers the punchline through ironic reversal. The page exemplifies early 20th-century American magazine humor—wordplay, physical comedy, and social observation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A PICTURE WITH A MORAL. DO NOT YAWN TOO FREELY BEHIND THOSE GAUZE FANS, Y hair,” mused Van Smythe, as he carefully consigned his two remaining wisps to their appointed places, “reminds me most painfully of a fool and his money.” **7T has been discovered that water is an anesthetic.” “That's not new. If you have ever been to a prohibition dinner, you will have noticed that it has also soporific qualities.” “OFF ON A BUST.” AT THE NEWSPAPER OFFICE. VISITOR: May I consult the files of your paper for a week back ? FRESH CLERK: Certainly; only I'd ad- vise you to use a porous plaster. ‘D SO YOU WERE RUINED BY ; BY SLOW oNes,” comicbooks.com