Life, 1892-06-09 · page 12 of 16
Life — June 9, 1892 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Satire Analysis (June 1872) This page contains multiple satirical cartoons and humorous pieces reflecting 1870s American life: **"Dog Show Opens at the Crystal Palace"**: Two working-class Irish women (identifiable by dialect and names like "Flanigan" and "Brady") threaten each other with violence. The satire mocks both their volatility and their hypocrisy—one just confessed her sins but immediately vows revenge, undermining her claimed "state of grace." **"The Wrong Call"**: A sleeping deacon mishears the preacher's spiritual call ("the Lord doth call") as a poker hand call, muttering "One small pair, that's all." The joke satirizes inattention in church and gambling culture. **"Mormon Migration/Cholera Death"**: Brief historical notes accompanying cartoons about mass Mormon emigration to Utah and the first North American cholera death—contemporary events presented as backdrop. **Poker Commentary**: The final text mocks American egalitarianism ironically: claiming thirty million "kings" (equal citizens) yet acknowledging that actual power depends on luck, not equality. The overall tone is satirical toward working-class Irish immigrants, religious hypocrisy, and American democratic pretense.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
June 4, 1872. DOG SHOW OPENS AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE, Mrs. Flanigan (shaking her fist): "TIS ALL VERY WELL. FOR YOU TO TALK, MRS. BRADY, KNOWING I'M JUST FROM CONFESSION, AND IN A STATE OF GRACE, HUT JUST YOU WAIT TILL TO-MORROW, WHEN, PLAZE HEAVEN, I'LL HLACKEN THE TWO EYES 0° YE! THE WRONG CALL. AST Sunday moming Deacon Smith In service slept awhile, And Deacon Jones sat watching him With grim malicious smile, Which broadened when the preacher cried, “My friends, the Lord doth call,” And Deacon Smith, but half awake, Said, ‘One small pair, that’s all.” SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY-TWO MORMONS SAILED FROM LIVERPOOL. FOR UTAH, June 8, 1832. FIRST DEATH BY CHOLERA IN NORTH AMERICA. g I HE orators declare that there are thirty million kings in this country. You would never think it, though, when you hold two and are drawing for three of a kind. “A PLAGUE O° BOTH YOUR HOUSES.” Romeo and Juliet. comicbooks.com