Life, 1896-03-05 · page 13 of 20
Life — March 5, 1896 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1900s *Life* magazine page contains three satirical pieces: **"Toasting the Bride"** (top cartoon): Shows Indigenous figures in an exaggerated, dehumanizing style roasting someone over a fire—a racist stereotype depicting non-Western peoples as cannibals. **"An Omission"**: Critiques newspapers for publishing sensationalist "filth" during Lent, while churches issue guidelines for moral behavior. The satire suggests newspapers should be included on lists of things to avoid. **"A Day Off"**: A brief joke mocking newspaper reporters as liars—the reporter can only tell "simple truth" when away from his job at the *Trumpet*. **The dialogue about murder penalties**: This is deeply disturbing by modern standards. A colonel describes a racist, lawless system where Black people can be lynched for killing whites, Black-on-Black violence is ignored, and white men killing Black people go free or are encouraged to kill more. This reflects the actual legal injustices of the Jim Crow era, presented here apparently as dark satire of Southern brutality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
TOASTING THE BRIDE. AN OMISSION, JQ CCORDING to their annual custom, the Catholic and Episcopal Churches have this year issued circulars to all good churchmen containing a list of the things which should be carefully avoided during the Lenten season. Lire is surprised to notice that the names of some of our newspapers are not included. It is almost impossible for the best-intentioned Christian to keep his mind pure for forty days if he allows his eyes to feast every morning on the daily diet of filth which some of our most promi- nent journals take so much pride in spreading before their readers. HE fact that some men are self-made relieves the Almighty of a great responsibility. A DAY OFF, ‘7 WENT fishing Sunday with Jones. You know Jones—re- porter on the ‘Trumpet.’” “I suppose he's been telling some tall stories about the catch.” “No, he’s told nothing but the simple truth. Jones is very glad to get away from the routine of his business once in a while.” TRANGER: What isthe penalty for murder in this State, Colonel ? CoLoneL: Well, sah, that depends entirely upon the circumstances in the case, sah, If a white man kills a white man we give him a fair trial. If a niggar kills a white man we lynch the scoundrel. If a niggar kills a niggar the law does not concern itself with the affair. If a white man kills a niggar, sah, we turn him loose, sah, in the hopes that he will kill another one, sah. FRENCH DRESSING. comicbooks.com