Life, 1894-02-08 · page 13 of 16
Life — February 8, 1894 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page collects brief satirical jokes and humorous sketches typical of early 20th-century Life magazine's style. **Key content:** - **"What Boots It?"** - A cartoon mocking courtship rituals; two young women discuss prayer, with one admitting she only prays for one specific man (implying romantic fixation rather than religious devotion). - **Echo joke** - A child misunderstands his father's explanation of echoes, suggesting a girl who "saw" one was actually meeting a suitor. - **"Mean, Hateful Thing"** - A domestic scene where a woman rejects a marriage proposal, shown through overheard conversation. - **"Beside Himself"** - Two identical cartoon figures illustrating the phrase's literal meaning. - **"The Food of Love"** - A poem by Harry Romaine celebrating a lover's voice over musical instruments, satirizing Romantic-era sentimentality about love and music. The humor relies on courtship anxieties, domestic situations, and wordplay typical of the era's middle-class audience.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WHAT BOOTS IT? MODERATE. ISS PRIMLIPS: When you say your prayers at night, do you pray for all men? Miss LEFTOVER: No, in- deed! Just one would. be enough. se ATHER,” asked little Tommy as he climbed his father’s knee, “did you ever MEAN, HATEFUL THING. see an echo!” “FRED IS IN AN AWFUL FIX, HE PROPOSED TO ME LAST NIGHT, YOU KNOW, AND—" “Why, no, my son,” replied “AND YOU ACCEPTED HIM?" the parent. — === 7 = ———$<£= “Well, Willie said his sister went to see one, and it returned her FATHER: What's that devilish noise in call.” And the strong man bowed his head to hide his emotion, the kitchen, Bobby ? Bossy: That's mamma making angel cake! R. CHEVIOT HILL: Do you know who I am, my little man?—|°§ ————— THE Lirrte MAN: Yep. You're the feller who is going to propose to my sister. IFE: The baby seems to be very happy to-day. Huspanp: Why shouldn't he? He kept me awake all night. THE FOOD OF LOVE. ‘CTF music be the food of love,” Tam rejoiced to find My passion is a key above All viands of that kind, No part of the domestic cat, Vexed by a horse's tail, Can make my famished love grow fat With its lugubrious wail. ‘The banjo and the mandolin, The zither and the drum, The brass band, with its fearful din, Are not a single crumb. My love has far a daintier choice, And strong and hearty grows, Upon the music of Her voice, In plain, untortured prose. Harry Romaine, “* BESIDE HIMSELF.”