Life, 1895-10-24 · page 9 of 20
Life — October 24, 1895 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Barber's Dream" This is a humorous sketch showing a barber dozing in his chair during a slow business day. While he sleeps, he daydreams of an ideal customer—a man demanding elaborate services: a shave, shampoo, hair-cut, hair-tonic, and "a drop of every bottle in the shop." The joke contrasts the barber's actual situation (a quiet day with no customers) against his fantasy of a high-maintenance, talkative client who wants endless treatments and has strong opinions on every topic. The accompanying dialogue above the image appears to reference a separate operatic or theatrical incident involving a tenor and a dissolved choir, unrelated to the barber sketch itself.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Dip 1 UNDERSTAND YOU TO SAY, JOHN, THAT THE TENOR MARRIED THE CONTRALTO 2?” “Yes, THE CHOIR WAS TO BE DISBANDED AND THAT WAS THEIR ONLY MEANS OF CONTINUING THEIR QUARREL,” THE BARBER’S DREAM. HE shop was dull; ‘twas a sultry day Of a man who wanted a shave, shampoo A man who wanted a// the news, And made the barber express his views On countless topics of widest range ; And last, not least, didn’t want his change. WM, And not a customer came that way; And hair-cut—used hair-tonic, too !— And the barber's eyelids softly closed A wonderful man who wanted a drop And a vision came as he gently dozed, Out of every bottle in the shop.