Life, 1892-07-07 · page 7 of 14
Life — July 7, 1892 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 7 This page contains three separate pieces of humor: **"The Fugitive Thought"** (left): A poem with illustrations depicting a writer's frantic search for a forgotten idea. The humor relies on the relatable experience of losing a brilliant thought before writing it down—showing the author increasingly disheveled while searching through papers, pockets, and furniture. **"Daylight Ahead"** (top right): A brief domestic comedy sketch where a husband callously suggests his dying grandmother won't need her necklace anymore, shocking his wife with his mercenary attitude. **"The Number Limited"** (bottom right): A patent medicine satire where a husband dismisses his wife's advertisement for a cure-all tonic, noting it claims to treat twenty-five diseases—implying such broad claims reveal its fraudulence. The accompanying illustration shows an absurdly tall, skeletal figure labeled "A Long Time Between Drinks."
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE FUGITIVE THOUGHT. Where coudd the thing have WH scribbling late one night I happened to alight On the happiest thought I'd thought For many a year. Thailed it with delight, But ‘ere I'd time to write My péneil had contrived To disappear. gone? I searched and searched upon The table, and beneath it And behind it. I pushed my books about, Turned my pockets inside But the more I looked out, The more I couldn't find it! “* This will not do,” I said, “1 must not lose my head !” So I went and tore the cushions From my chair, Shook all my rugs and mats, And shoes and coats and hats, And crawled beneath the Sofa in despair ! At last, upon my soul, I lost my self-control Then I searched and searched again On the table, but in vain, And I fussed and fumed And felt about the floor. And I rose up in my wroth, And I shook the tablecloth, And turned my pockets Inside out once more! Then I said ‘I must keep cool!" So I took my two foot rule And I poked among the Ashes in the grate. And I paced my room in rage, Like a wild beast in a cage, In a furious, frightful, frantic Frenzied state! And indulged in language Quite unfit to hear; Till out of breath—I gasped And clutched my head—and grasped That pencil calmly resting on My ear! . * . . Yes, I found that pencil stub! But my thought—Aye, there's the rub ! In vain I try to call it Back again. It has fled beyond recall, And what is worst of all ‘Twill turn up in some Other fellow's brain So I denounce forthwith Any future Jones or Smith Who thinks my thought—a Plagiarist of the worst. I shall know my thought again When I hear it, and it's plain It must be mine because J thought it first! Oliver Herford. DAYLIGHT AHEAD. USBAND: You know that necktie you got me yesterday? Well, I just got a telegram from home saying that my grandmother is at the point of death. WIFE (wringing her hands): dear! it? HUSBAND (¢riumphantly): dies ! won't have to wear it. Oh, dear, But what has the necktie got to do with Why, if she THE NUMBER LIMITED, ' IFE: I see your patent Aluminum Drop Remedy is advertised to cure just twenty-five diseases, HUSBAND (patent medicine proprietor): That’s all I could get into half a column. A LONG TIME BETWEEN DRINKS. comicbooks.com