Life, 1894-12-13 · page 9 of 16
Life — December 13, 1894 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 383 This page contains two photographic illustrations labeled "The Wonders of America": one showing hunters with a grizzly bear in the Rocky Mountains, and another depicting Niagara Falls' "Maid of the Mist" waterfall and boat. Below are three brief comedic dialogue snippets satirizing American domestic life and speech: 1. **"When Most Needed"** mocks apartment living, with a husband preferring not to live on the seventh floor despite having an elevator, complaining the elevator doesn't run after one o'clock—precisely when needed most. 2. **"Adds Nothing to It"** jokes that telephones, like women, tell everything they hear but with perfect accuracy. 3. Brief exchanges mock romantic pretense and drunkenness at social gatherings. The satire targets urban living inconveniences, gender stereotypes, and social pretension typical of early 20th-century Life magazine humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WONDERS OF AMERICA. THE Maio OF THE Mist. AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS IN VISIBLE AT NIAGARA Fats TUESDAY Fepruary. THE WONDERS OF AMERICA. (HUNTING GRIZZLY BEAR IN THE Rocky MOUNTAINS. then sang a hymn describing the massacre of the inno- cents by King Herod. The chorus: Oh, I ne'er suppress a giggle When I hear their funny squeaks, And I love to see ‘em wriggle As away their life-blood leaks, was joined in with great gusto by the entire Association standing. Upon motion the Association then adjourned to meet again upon St. Bartholomew's day. Metcalfe. WHEN MOST NEEDED. ACK’GAYBOY: 1 wouldn't live in the seventh flat, anyway, my dear, Mrs. Gaysoy: But what difference does it make; there's an elevator in the house? Jack Gaysoy: That's all right, but the agent says it doesn’t run after one o’clock—the very time a man needs it the worst! ADDS NOTHING TO IT. HE telephone is like a woman ; it tells everything it hears.” “Yes, that's so. And it's unlike a woman, too ; it tells a thing just as it hears it.” ENELOPE (freezingly) : . You do not love me. TEN BROKE (convincingly): 1 worship the very ground that you inherit. . ARRY: You look white. Is it the salad? JACK: No, it’s the punch. It was drunk, and now it’s disorderly !