Life, 1891-12-24 · page 5 of 16
Life — December 24, 1891 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 373 This page contains several satirical pieces targeting early 20th-century social conventions: **"Bric-a-brac is going out!"** - A poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox celebrating the elimination of cluttered Victorian domestic décor, mocking the elaborate knick-knacks and "costly nothings" that cluttered homes. It's a progressive jab at outmoded decorating tastes. **Wall Street Broker story** - Ridicules a stockbroker's sudden religious conversion, with the punchline "How many points?" suggesting his mind remains on profit rather than spirituality. **"Wise Papa"** - A humorous domestic exchange where a daughter asks her father for an expensive sealskin coat for Christmas, negotiating down from eighty dollars by offering a Wagner score instead. The page reflects satirizing materialism, vanity, and the gap between professed values and actual behavior.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“ Bric-a-brac is going ou —Fashion Bazar. ISTEN, housemaids, to my song, Send the joyful news along. Lift your troubled hearts are. init your troubled hearts from care MWA Wave your dusters in the air. No more hard carned wages clipped To repay for treasures chipped. Sing and dance and laugh and shout, Bric-a-brac is going out ! Join, ye husbands, in the strain. Yours the profit and the gain. No more jaunts with wife to seck Costly nothings called ‘ unique.” No more monstrous bills to pay For some ugly bit of clay. Fashion puts the fad to rout, Bric-a-brac is going out ! Comfort, lovers, fall in line ! Bend the knee at Fashion's shrine ; ive that cranky dame her due Since she proves so kind to you. Homes no longer will be shops, — oo = All that sort of thing she stops. BUSY Wall Street broker went to church, Sunday. oul: have toon to:walkiabouts LA. First time in years. He curled up in a comfortable corner and be- — Bric=t-brac is going out gan to dream of stocks. . . Down ye objects, useless, old— The minister took his place in the pulpit. : TI ” 1. in full . Worth one time your weight in gold The Lord 1s risen,” he said, in full voice. Dacicclleciing sult, avauni From each nook, and niche, and haunt. Of! ye foes to brush and broom, Cumbering shelf and mantel room. Jar, and vase, and candlestick, Fall in line! March! double quick ! Hear ye not the foeman's shout— Bric-a-brac is going out! Ella Wheeler Wilox, The broker started up suddenly. “How many points?” he blurted out, and they cast him forth. WISE PAPA, par : What would you like for Christ- mas ? ETHEL: 1 saw a handsome sealskin sack, but its price is eighty dollars, and as I don't want to be hard on you, I'll be fied with a complete score of all the Wagner— PAPA (énterrupting)* Ethel, I'll buy you the sack. | | UNKER (after his charmer has said “Yes' : Now, — I suppose I'll have to ask your father. Miss Scapps: Of course. Shall I see if he’ > Miss Leftover: HOW pip YOU LIKE YOUNG LIEUTENANT ELIGIBLE if he's at home . | Miss Hunter: OW, IMMENSELY, THERE'S A RING IN HIS VOICE THAT'S HUNKER (nervously): No—er—|_ think VERY TAKING, I'll call him up by telephone, to-morrow.