Life, 1893-12-07 · page 12 of 16
Life — December 7, 1893 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page 368: Social Satire This page from Life magazine contains several short satirical pieces mocking social conventions and contemporary figures: **Top dialogue**: A couple's exchange where the man makes a math pun ("rule of three" rather than "rule of love"), with a chaperon present—mocking courtship formality. **Office Boy scene**: Satirizes newspaper subscription troubles, a common complaint. **Nature/Women joke**: A crude gender stereotype suggesting women are inherently clumsy or poor at physical tasks. **New York Sun critique**: A direct jab at the newspaper and its publisher (likely Charles Dana), mocking its small typeface and contrarian editorial positions on public issues. **Fashionable Call**: Satirizes upper-class calling customs—a woman leaving a false "called" card while claiming her restless horse prevented her from actually waiting, exposing the performative nature of social etiquette among the wealthy. The page reflects Life's style: punching at pretension, gender norms, and media figures through illustrated humor and wordplay.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
368 - LIFE - E: A fellow Ad HE THOUGHT NOT. told me yester- y FFICE BOY: There's a stranger at the door. day he thought I was Epitor: Does he want to pay his subscription ? such a bright fellow, “T suppose not. He says he is anxious to see you.” SHE: That's an - awfully aera , ~HE: Is there a rule of love? HE (glancing at the chaperon): Yes; but ° ‘ fi it isn't the rule of three. Why DOES ALL NATURE LAUGH WHEN A WOMAN TRIES TO HIT ANYTHING ? HE New York Siz is one of the best newspapers in America; but there are two things about it that no one but Mr. Dana understands, One is that it uses so much small type and the other that it is invari- ably on the wrong side of every public question, In none of his after-dinner speeches and addresses on news- paper making has Mr. Dana ever divulged either of these fill Nala tll Win secrets. CATeeh TNA AA A FASHIONABLE CALL. Lady in coupé: Not aT Home, EH? I'M SORRY. TELL HER I CALLED, WILL YOU, PLEASE? AND SaY I WOULD HAVE WAITED ON’Y MY HORSE IS A LITTLE RESTIVE! BEFORE THE FOOT-LIGHTS, comicbooks.com