Life, 1891-12-24 · page 9 of 16
Life — December 24, 1891 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis: Life Magazine, Page 377 **Top Section: "Penelope Exhibits Her Skill as a Cook"** This is a domestic comedy about a young woman named Penelope who has learned bread-making. Jack teases her about forgetting to add yeast, causing the bread to fail to rise. Penelope defends herself by saying she forgot the yeast but "didn't forget to put in the flour, and that's much more important than the yeast"—a humorous non-sequitur. The joke satirizes both her cooking incompetence and her illogical reasoning. The accompanying illustration shows her as fashionably dressed but domestically challenged. **Bottom Section: "How They Got the Bananas"** Three sequential comic panels show an elephant and giraffe attempting to retrieve bananas from a banana tree. The visual gag depicts their physical comedy as they struggle with the height difference and their respective body shapes to reach the fruit. Both sections represent *Life*'s typical early 20th-century humor format: domestic comedy and animal antics.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘LIFE: PENELOPE EXHIBITS HER SKILL AS A COOK. sgh S¢7)H, Jack!" said Pen one day as the happy youth entered the room. “What do you suppose I've been doing ?" “No one in the world could guess what you've been doing, Pen,” replied Jack, “ but it’s something nice I knov “Yes, it is nice, and I did it to show you that I am really thinking: seriously of the time when we shall keep house for ourselves. I've been making bread. Of course I don’t intend to make the bread when we go to housekeeping, but it’s just as well to be able to instruct the servants how to do those things—servants are so lacking in intelligence, you know, At least mamma says so. But they Il never trouble me. I'll manage them.” Yes, Pen, | guess you'll be equal to any domestic emergency that may arise. By the way, Pen, where did you learn to make bread?” “Atthe cooking school. It was lots of fun—only I got flour all over my hands, and dough in my finger-nails, and spoiled a new silk dri We gave the things we cooked to the poor instead of bringing them home. That was generous of us, wasn’t it?” “To whom—to the pvor?” * Jack!" “Oh, I didn’t mean anything like a joke.” “1 know you didn’t, poor boy; you never said anything funny in your life. By the way, the bread must have risen by this time, and if you're real good I'll bring up a pan of the dough and let you see how nice and white itis, Ml get it I have not looked at it since morning, for I didn’t want them to think I was at all anxious about it. I'll be right back.” At this Pen flirted out of the room. She did not return for now. “YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. WIN, UNCLE; HE IS 4 DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH. “THEN THE SOONER HE IS CUT THE BETTER.” some time, and when she did she wore on her pretty face a troubled look. “ Where's the bread, Pen, It hasnt risen yet,” she replied. ‘ The cook says s thinks I forgot to put in the yeast. But I know [ didn’t, and I know it will rise. It shall rise if it has to stay there for a year. Do you think I forgot to put in the yeast, Jack?” This a little plaintively.) No, indeed I don’t,” he answered emphatically. such a comfort to have somebody who has con- fidence in you,” she continued, giving him at the same time the sweetest of ki “At any rate, dear, I didn’t forget to put in the flour, and that’s much more important than the ‘ed Jac! yeast.” * Tom Hall, HOW THEY GOT THE BANANAS. comicbooks.com