Life, 1893-12-28 · page 3 of 53
Life — December 28, 1893 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This page from *Life* magazine contains several satirical pieces: **"Extenuating"** shows a couple where the woman defends her husband Jack's proposal by claiming she hated him beforehand—so his proposal was actually an improvement in their relationship. It's a humorous take on low romantic expectations. **"Inconsistency in High Places"** mocks wealthy Fifth Avenue residents for being hypocritical: they refuse to give money or help servants, yet complain when refused basic services themselves. **"A Saving Clause"** jokes about a husband who gambles but is kind to animals—presented as his one redeeming quality. The page also includes a sonnet "To Aimée" and "A Comparison" about railway travel speeds. These pieces represent typical early-20th-century *Life* humor: domestic satire, class commentary, and gentle mockery of social contradictions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
VOLUME XxIl. EXTENUATING. “Why, you TOLD ME YoU HATED Jack 1" ‘OH, THAT WAS BEFORE HE PROPOSED.” NUMBER 574. TO AIMEE. SONNET to my lady fair I'd write ; Yet when I view her golden hair So bright, Her laughing eye so blue, Her cheek of rosy hue, ‘The lover overpowers the bard In me, I cannot rhyme, though I try hard, While she Unconscious quite of every trick, Plays havoc with my thetoric, Ah, me! A COMPARISON. f€ N RAILWAY train traveling night and day at the rate of fifty miles an hour would reach Alpha Centauri, the nearest of the fixed stars, in forty-two mill- ion years.” “Him About the same time that it would take the average mes- senger boy to cross the city twice if he had no bad luck,” INCONSISTENCY IN HIGH PLACES. ST TRAMP: These Fifth Avenue people are very unreasonable with us. “OND TRAMP: Yes; never give money, and lecture you for being dirty. First Tramp: And yet, when I rang and asked for a bath only I was refused, A SAVING CLAUSE. RS, UNSOPHISTICUS: My husband may be a gambler, but he is very kind to dumb animals. Mrs. RIGHTUPTODATE: What makes you think so? Mrs, UNSOPHISTIC I overheard him tell the doctor that he sat eight hours in the club fattening up the kitty. A CLOSE CALCULATION. comicbooks.com