Life, 1893-08-24 · page 5 of 16
Life — August 24, 1893 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 117 This page contains several brief comedic dialogues and illustrations typical of early 20th-century Life magazine humor. **"A Cordial Grip"** jokes about a company president's habit of shaking hands with employees—Clarkly notes the president does this as a cheaper alternative to raising salaries. **"A Trap"** depicts a man (Dashaway) who's been denied bank access for sixty days, wanting to consult someone (Cleverton) about his predicament. **"R.S.V.P."** is a poem about marriage concerns, specifically the speaker's anxiety that his wife might end up in scandal or use curling papers—contemporary domestic anxieties played for humor. The central photograph shows two men in what appears to be a bedroom scene, captioned as a marital misunderstanding about sewing on a button. The overall tone reflects period-typical office and domestic humor targeting middle-class anxieties.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A CORDIAL GRIP. ~TOKES: The presi- dent of your com- pany seems to take quite an interest in you now, CLARKLY: What makes you think so? STOKES: I notice he has fallen into the habit of shaking hands with you when he comes into the office in the morning. CLARKLY: Yes; he thinks it's cheaper than raising my salary. A TRAP. ASHAWAY: I just got a notice from my bank that I can’t draw out any money for sixty day: CLEVERTON: What are you going to do? DASHAWAY: Well, old man, that’s what I want- ed to see you about. Harry St. Ledger: MY DEAR, WON'E YOU SEW ON THIS BUTTON BEFORE YOU Go OUT? His New Wife: Te COOK MAY POSSIBLY DO IT FOR YOU, BUT PLEASE REAR IN MIND YOU MARRIED A TYPE WRITER, NOT A SEWING MACHINE. RS. Vv. OP HERE is one thing that seems to hold If I should see her queenly head My steps from happy marriage; Done up in Sunday's journal, It is not scarcity of gold I know I'd think her ** better dead,” Wherewith to keep a carriage ; Or moved to realms infernal ! Nor that [ have not long since done Oh, pretty maidens, east and west, With cutting boyish capers, By secret mid-night tapers, But one misgiving—only one / Say do you—set my mind at. rest :— “MAN OVERRORED!” “Do ‘nice girls’ use curl papers ? “Do ‘nice girls’ use curl papers?” comicbooks.com