Life, 1893-03-23 · page 13 of 18
Life — March 23, 1893 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page 189: Political Humor and Social Satire This page from *Life* magazine contains several satirical jokes targeting politicians and social pretensions: **Main cartoon (top left)**: Shows what appears to be a newly inaugurated president in the White House. The joke, attributed to "Hicks," mocks political ambition—when asked what a new president thinks about on his first night, Hicks replies "his second term," suggesting politicians immediately focus on re-election rather than their duties. **"A Little Bit Off"** (top right): A simple visual gag about a barber's work. **Lower section**: Contains wordplay and social humor—jokes about lawyers and electricians being "lights," a smoking joke about health, and a poetry commentary mocking British literary figures (Arnold, Lang, Swinburne, Gosse) for self-aggrandizing verse about merit. **Bottom joke**: A pun on the biblical Ruth and corns (foot ailments). Overall, the page satirizes political vanity, pretentious intellectuals, and wordplay humor typical of early 20th-century American satirical magazines.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“A LITTLE BIT OFF.” HICKS’S OPINION. “6 HAT a sense of exhilaration a man must feel when he walks into the White House for the first time after his inauguration and realizes that he is Presi- dent of the United States. What do you suppose a man thinks about on his first night there?” said Hawley. “ His second term,” re- plied Hicks. y" ard eee od rd : B 5 . ~ > Uh es F a great lawyer is a 4 < legal light, is a great electrician an electric light ? “Wuatl SMoKinc, FRED? THOUGHT YOUR DOCTOR TOLD YOU IT WOULD KILL You ?” “So HE DID, AND I QUIT. BUT AT THE END OF A WEEK I WANTED TO DIE, SO I'M SMOKING AGAIN,” AN OPINION CONCERNING THE NEXT LAUREATE. ” Gladstone were a man of sense, And my small book of verse were read, There isn't any doubt the bay Would soon be resting on my head. N. B.—This rhyme was picked up in London, and the handwriting resembles that of Sir Edwin Arnold, Andrew Lang, A. C. Swinburne and Edmund Gosse, equally. The sentiment is in accord with the feelings of all, so that the real authorship of the lines is likely to remain a mystery. AY SUNG LADY: Mr. Parsons, what did Boaz say when he first saw Ruth? YounG Man: I do not know,~unless he asked her not to step on his corn. “A HIGH LIVER.” comicbooks.com