Life, 1892-06-30 · page 13 of 19
Life — June 30, 1892 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Satire Explained This page contains multiple unrelated satirical items typical of *Life* magazine's format: 1. **"Explanatory"**: A husband caught carrying another woman's photograph claims he fell in love with her before marriage—satirizing male infidelity excuses. 2. **Prof. Swift's Observatory**: Mocks a real astronomer whose Warner Observatory will be blocked by a Presbyterian church's expanding roof. The satire ridicules religious institutions literally obstructing scientific progress and suggests Swift must choose between faith or knowledge—a common late-19th/early-20th century tension. 3. **Senator Dialogue**: Jokes about a politician refusing to travel with a corpse because "he doesn't drink"—implying heavy drinking accompanies such grim journeys. 4. **Dressmaker Joke**: A pickpocket victim is told only her dressmaker could steal from her—satirizing dressmakers' notorious access to clients' clothing and valuables. 5. **Poem/Illustration**: Romanticizes a chance church encounter with a woman, playing on Victorian propriety and flirtation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
EXPLANATORY. Indignant Wife: HERE, SIR, 18 THE PHOTOGRAPH OF A STRANGE WOMAN I FIND YOU ARE IN THE HABIT OF CARRYING AROUND IN YOUK POCKET. I DEMAND AN EXPLANATION. Husband: Wy, PsHAW! MY DEAR, I FELL IN LOVE WITH THAT GIRL LONG BEFORE OUR MARRIAGE. ROF. SWIFT, of the Warner Observatory, in Rochester, whose eight-tailed comet lately divided public interest with the May convention, is about to be bilked of part of his sky by the rising roof of a Presbyterian church. Conse- quently the Warner Observatory is going to shut up and (perhaps) go West. It remains for the brethren of the other sects to assure Prof. Swift that he is not the first man who has had to choose whether to be content with a narrow view of Heaven, or get away from a Presbyterian church, IRST SENATOR: Is Smitherson going to accompany us West with Blank’s body ? SECOND SENATOR: No; he doesn’t drink. HE: Who do you think could have picked my pocket ? HE: Nobody in the world but your dress- maker. UT of sight—A Pparvenu's ances- “RAISING THE VERY OLD BOY.” 409 spirit | Aapam Muapny CLAIRVOYANT — Zavted #3c6 | MEDIUM. y hii “A HAPPY MEDIUM.” IN HER PEW. ~ HE looked up from her pew. (Why she did, Heaven knows !) But I smiled, wouldn't you? “Twas the right thing to do, And, pshaw! Nobody knew. Then I tried hard to pose, Buta look of hers froze All my blood—and I woo Her in future, old chappie, when not in her pew. Tom Hall. ANOTHER “Affaire de Cur.” comicbooks.com