Life, 1892-12-29 · page 19 of 47
Life — December 29, 1892 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate satirical jokes typical of 1890s Life magazine humor: **"Conclusive"** (main illustration): A joke about a professor's romantic embarrassment. The humor relies on the "Elevated" (elevated railway) stop at "Eighteenth Street" sounding like it could be a euphemism or double entendre. The professor's repeated blushing when the guard announces the station becomes "proof" he's in love—suggesting his embarrassment at the suggestive name reveals his feelings. **"A Nineteenth Century Episode"**: A brief dialogue joke where Clara announces her engagement to be married, and Maude responds with apparent misunderstanding or deflation of the announcement's significance. **"Progress"**: A commentary on changing social values. A mother asks her son how school goes; he proudly reports he "licked the monitor" (beat up the monitor/student prefect). The title "Progress" suggests this represents modern youth behavior—possibly satirizing either permissive parenting or declining school discipline. All three rely on wordplay, double meanings, and social observation rather than political commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
CHRISTMAS DECEMBER, NUMBER, 1892. CONCLUSIVE. She: DO YOU THINK THE PROFESSOR IS REALLY IN LOVE WITH HER? He: WELL, RATHER! HE GETS CARRIED BY HIS OWN STATION ON THE ELEVATED EVERY DAY, AND BLUSHES WHEN THE GUARD CALLS OUT “ EIGHTEENTH STREET.” A NINETEENTH CENTURY EPISODE. PROGRESS. LARA: Have you heard that I was engaged? ELL, Willie, how do you get on at school?” MaupE: To be married ? “First rate; I licked the monitor this morning.” comicbooks.com