Life, 1894-11-22 · page 13 of 24
Life — November 22, 1894 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct satirical pieces mocking social conventions of the era. **"Thanksgiving Observances" (top):** Two 1894 sketches humorously contrast holiday observations—one shows a man hunting/shooting in a forest; the other depicts a man with a telescope, suggesting different ways people "observe" the holiday. **"A Domestic Tragedy":** A melodramatic sketch satirizing women's changing roles and marital expectations. A wife is devastated not by abuse or abandonment, but because her husband asked her to mend his trousers—and she refused. The satire targets the emerging "New Woman" of the 1890s who rejected traditional domestic duties, while also mocking her mother's concern and the husband's expectation. The punchline ridicules both: he's now wearing her "bicycle bloomers" (scandalous athletic wear), suggesting role reversal and social chaos. **"A Guilty Palm":** A fortune-teller reads a woman's hand, revealing she's been married twice—contemporary commentary on remarriage and women's autonomy. The humor assumes readers familiar with 1890s debates about women's rights, fashion, and domestic roles.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THANKSGIVING OBSERVANCES. A DOMESTIC TRAGEDY. HERE was sorrow in that little home. “T shall never forgive him! Never! Never!” she cried. Then she threw herself upon a divan and wept bitterly. There was a ring at the door bell. “Ah, my dear mother, it is you !" she exclaimed, as a woman of commanding presence entered the room. “It is 1," was the answer. “ Why do I find you weeping ?” “T have been cruelly treated by the man whom I had trusted—the man whom we led—who led me to the altar.” “ Has he struck you ?” “ Worse !"" “Deserted you? Left you to face poverty alone ?” “ Worse. He—he asked me to mend his trousers.” * And you?” “Trefused. And now—oh, horrors—I cannot tell * Speak, my child, speak A GUILTY PALM. “He has worn my bicycle bloomers down to his “FEODORA, YER HAVE BIN A DECEIVIN'’ oF ME, YER HAND TELLS — Offic ME YER HAVE BIN MARRIED TWICET !" “ Wretch !" Philander Johnson. comicbooks.com