Life, 1894-01-11 · page 11 of 14
Life — January 11, 1894 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 27 This page contains three separate satirical sketches typical of Life's humor format: 1. **Top illustration**: Shows a "Sympathetic Widow" consulting an agent about a gravestone. The widow wants an identical stone to her first husband's, but the agent objects it's too grand for a man of her husband's "prominence." Her reply—that if Thomas's first wife got one, Thomas deserves one too—satirizes remarriage and social pretension around memorial displays. 2. **"Reaping Where He Had Sown"**: Mocks tyrannical rulers and domestic discord, with a mistress threatening to use "dynamite cartridges" on a misbehaving servant. The title suggests consequences for harsh treatment. 3. **"Getting It Through Him"**: A cartoon showing physical comedy of someone struggling with another person, illustrating the caption's metaphorical meaning about forcing understanding through difficulty. All employ vintage early 20th-century humor conventions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Sympathetic Widow : Interesting Subject: Yes, VERY. HAVE YOU BEEN FORTUNATE IN YOUR LOVE AFFAIRS? 1 NEVER YET FELL IN LOVE WITH A GIRL WHO WOULD MARRY ME. IDOW: I want a stone for my husband's grave exactly like the other one in the lot. But isn’t it a trifle small for a man of your $ prominence ? Wipow: No, sir! If Thomas thought a stone like that was good enough for his first wife, I guess it’s plenty good enough for Thomas. SOME EXCUSE FOR ANARCHY. YRANNICAL RULER: So it’s breakin’ y'r bricky- back an’ spoilin’ th’ cookin’ an’ ruinin’ th’ clothes ye charrged me wid? Bad cess to ye, Oi'll hov ye know—— DOWNTRODDEN MISTRESS (firmly): Bridget, if you are not out of this house when your week is up I'll put a dyna- mite cartridge in the range. $6 ISS NELSON complained that you talked to her of nothing but the weather.” “Well, that’s all we had in common.” GETTING IT THROUGH HIM,