Life, 1894-02-08 · page 12 of 16
Life — February 8, 1894 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page 92: Satirical Commentary This page contains several distinct satirical pieces: **"Hats at the Theatre"** (main article): Life critiques women who wear large, obstructive hats to theater performances, blocking other patrons' views. The author notes men who kept hats on would be violently ejected, yet women face no such consequences despite wearing even larger hats. The satire exposes a double standard in social enforcement—society tolerates women's inconsiderate behavior while brutally punishing identical conduct from men. **"Excited" (brief dialogue)**: A joke about a train guard so angry at being stepped on that he angrily calls out station names—implying he's so furious he can only express himself through his job duties. **"A Night Off"**: A cartoon showing horses rearing wildly, titled as if they're enjoying leisure time away from work. **"We Draw the Line"** (poem): Nostalgic verse about missing mothers' homemade coffee and bread, but explicitly *not* missing her old slippers—a humorous rejection of certain domestic traditions. **"All the Same to Him"**: A joke about someone so morally flexible they borrow money equally from broke people or liars. The page exemplifies *Life*'s style: social criticism wrapped in humor and illustration.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HATS AT THE THEATRE? HIS is a delicate question. If a man should persist in keeping his hat on at a theatre, that article would very soon be smashed over his ears, and it is possible that he would be ejected from the premises with more celerity than care, If he were allowed to walk in any particular language it would undoubtedly be in Spanish, Men know this, and even those human brutes who delight in making themselves offensive do not presume to undertake it. But gentle woman does this thing, and with hats that are far more obstructive. The reader will now begin to realize, perhaps, how delicate a question this is to handle, especially for one who, like LiF! shrinks from unpleasant reflections upon the gentler sex. But let us put on our softest gloves and go ahead. Let us suppose that those male bipeds to whom we have alluded were allowed to keep their hats on throughout the performance, and that the women, while removing their own head-gear, refrained from insisting on a chance to see the stage. The fact of these male bipeds being able to derive pleasure from such a gross violation of the rights of others would not only stamp them as brutes, but as brutes of an exceptional brutish type. As this is precisely what the women are doing, it will be readily perceived why LIFE, as a lover of the ladies, finds it inexpedient to answer this question. J. A.M. EXCITED. ~TRAWBER: I was getting on an elevated train this morning, and I stepped on the feet of one of the guards. SINGERLY: Was he mad? STRAWBER: Great Scott, yes. He called out the names of several stations, [TAME THE CARS HERE} “ WELL, THESE CITIZENS ARE GENEROUS!” “A NIGHT OFF.” WE DRAW THE LINE. IL! we sigh to taste some coffee like our mothers used to make, And we yearn to get a slice of bread like that they used to bake; But it may be we're ungrateful, yet we're sure we do not care To feel once more a slipper like our mothers used to wear. Nixon Waterman, ALL THE SAME TO HIM. ss LE? me ten dollars.” “T told you yesterday that I was broke.” “Yes, I know; but I'd just as soon borrow from a liar as anybody else.” comicbooks.com