Life, 1892-07-14 · page 3 of 14
Life — July 14, 1892 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page (Volume XX, Number 498) This page contains three humorous pieces typical of early 20th-century Life magazine: 1. **"A Cook County Romance"**: A brief dialogue joke about a divorced woman who remarried, with a man warning his friend about her previous marriage situation. 2. **"What the Flowers Said"**: A sentimental poem about roses as romantic messengers, reflecting Victorian-era romantic conventions—common subject matter for the period. 3. **"A Counter Irritant"**: A comic sketch about a dying man hearing a brass band playing outside, making light of his mortality through humor. 4. **"A Young Man Who Knows When He Is Well Off"**: A small cartoon (bottom left) showing a man apparently knocked down or in distress. The page represents Life's mix of gentle social satire, sentimental poetry, and physical comedy typical of American humor magazines from this era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
VOLUME Xx. NUMBER 498. ADAM AND EVE, A COOK COUNTY ROMANCE. RIMUS: The woman I pro- posed to to-night declared that she loved me, but that she could never marry me as long as she lived. SECUNDUS: That’s queer. What's the trouble ? Primus: Well, I was divorced from her once and she has scruples about marrying a man whose first wife is still living. (From the Oshkosh Bludgeon). —Jim Akers found a dynamite cartridge last week and won- dered what it was. His friends are now wondering where he is. “© CQAY, Tebe, said the ele- phant, “ you're not in it this year.” “Why not ?” asked the zebra. “ Blazers are not in style.” ERE are roses, red and white, Each to speak what I would write; For, when in your quiet room You will smell their sweet perfume, I shall whisper through these flowers Fancy’s thoughts for evening hours, Then, when in the crowded street You and I may chance to meet, I'll discover in your eyes What you've half-ex pressed in sighs; For, if in your dusky hair One red rose you deign to wear, I shall say, ‘I know that she Wears it for her love of me.” But, if on your gentle breast One white rose may dare to rest, Then in rapture I'll declare, “«That’s my heart a-resting there.” But, if neither red nor white May your hair or gown bedight, Still with confidence I'll say, “That is lovely woman's way— What of life is largest part Hides she deepest in her heart!" Droch. A YOUNG MAN WHO KNOWS WHEN HE IS WELL OFF. A COUNTER IRRITANT. ES, dear wife,” and he closed his eyes, “the end is near. The world grows dark about me. There is a mist around me gathering thicker and thicker, and there, as through a cloud, I hear the music of angels—sweet and sad.” “No, no, John dear ; that's the brass band on the corner.” “ What!" said the dying man, jumping from his bed and flinging the bootjack at the leader, “Have those scoundrels dared to come round here when I am dying!" And he recovered. “ NCLE TOM (shaving): Yo’, C'loe! Fotch'me some o’ dat babby powder to smoof mah face.” AuNT CHLOE (lo her grandson): Chile, jest han’ yo’ ole gran'fadder dat pot o’ chimbly soot. comicbooks.com