Life, 1894-03-15 · page 13 of 16
Life — March 15, 1894 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several brief satirical humor pieces typical of early Life magazine: **Main Cartoon**: Shows a nephew reassuring his uncle about making a will, joking that merely writing one doesn't guarantee death. The uncle responds that the nephew's hasty will-making suggests he has murder in mind—dark humor about inheritance motives. **"We Americans" Joke**: Satirizes American class consciousness. A woman dismisses a "distinguished looking fellow" as merely her father's clerk, not a gentleman—mocking the American pretense that appearance rather than occupation determines social standing. **"An Agonizing Moment"**: A country man (Old Waffles) realizes at the train station he's left his pretty typewriter's letter in his other trousers. The joke plays on absent-mindedness and the era's fascination with typewriters as modern technology. **Supporting jokes** involve wordplay (sparrow/quail puns) and a cynical observation about quick ocean-voyage engagements. The overall tone is lighthearted social commentary on American manners, technology, and relationships.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A GREW SOME TAIL, OJACK: The sparrow isa very courageous bird. TOMDIK: Non- sense! Any restau- rant keeper can make him quail. ITTY: Willis Norton met a girl on the steamer, fA 5 and before they got to “MY DEAR UNCLE, THE MERE FACT THAT A MAN MAKES HIS WILL 18 NO PROOF THAT HE'S GOING TO the other side, he was Die, FOR INSTANCE, I MADE MY WILL YESTERDAY AND LEFT YOU EVERYTHING I POSSESS.” engaged to her. What Ss y = ———=_ do you think of that ? Tom: It only goes to show that not all of the perils of ocean travel have been eliminated yet. N. B. HOSE interested in social matters will find some im- portant matter at the bottom of the next pag¢. AN AMUSEMENT. HE many thousands of Americans who are disgusted with the sickening details of vivisection are not deceived by the old argument of sacrificing animals to save human life. If that were the question we should hold very different views on this subject. As it happens, however, the amiable vivisector, in ninety-nine experiments out of a hundred, has no more thought of saving human life than has the professional bull-fighter in killing his animal. It is entertainment, pure and simple. A live animal, quivering on a table, gives a keen edge to a lecture, and furnishes more interest to the students than any number of dry words. Toa scientist so constituted as to enjoy this form of sport, the shrinking of sensitive nerves from knife and pince: affords a pleasant excitement that no dead body can possibly supply. WE AMERICANS. ss wre was that distinguished looking fellow you were just bowing to, Mabel?" “That! Oh, that was one of father’s clerks.” “Really! I thought he was a gentleman.” AN AGONIZING MOMENT. Old Wafies (who has just reached the station, and who lives two miles beyond the church seen in distance): HORRORS! I'VE COME A WHAT is the extreme penalty for bigamy ? AWAY AnD LEP TMY PRETTY TYPEWRITER'S LETTER IN MY OTHER B: Two mothers-in-law. P.P_S. (Mrs. Waffles does all repairing.) comicbooks.com