Life, 1896-03-05 · page 9 of 20
Life — March 5, 1896 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 177 This page contains satirical humor about American social commentary. "The Descent of Man" is a mock-heroic poem mocking evolutionary theory and modern civilization, contrasting primitive ancestors (Simian arboreal, Pithecanthropus, Troglodyte) with contemporary struggles—debts, lack of labor-saving devices, and Medieval hardships. The dialogue joke "No Comparison" satirizes a couple's domestic complaint: one spouse's death would be preferable to Philadelphia (likely referencing the city's reputation or conditions at the time). The lower illustration shows two men at a desk with the caption "What a curious paper-weight!" / "Yes, one of my wife's pies"—a joke about the wife's terrible cooking, a common domestic humor trope of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE: THE DESCENT OF MAN. Te Simian arboreal, The hero of the Age of Stone From whom is our descent, Toiled not as we in this; Had no stern foe to call and call He neither worked nor begged a loan, For cash to pay the rent. Whate'er he saw was his. The swart Alalus—otherwise The Roman had no need to toil Called Pithecanthropus— His hunger’s tide to stem; Knew no such torments as arise Barbarians tilled for him the soil, To nag and worry us. He won the grain from them. The hairy-chested Troglodyte While, as for Medixval ways, Had, living in his cave, I never could discern No florist creditors to fight, That any chap in knightly days No tailor’s duns to brave. Shed ink for coal to burn. The dweller by Helvetic lake Thus when, oppressed by lack of chink, Joyed in his mud-stilt hovel, I muse upon my fate, Nor fooled was he by cable fake Sad sorrow seizes me, to think Nor bored by “ problem novel.” That I was born too late. John Langdon Heaton. NO COMPARISON. HE: I do not see how he could possibly be worse—he has one foot in the grave. He: Well, his other foot might be in Philadelphia. force of their association for that one object. The patriotic idea that was back of the civil war is not lost sight of; it is revealed as the one justification of the awful sacrifice. But Mr. Crane throws no glamour about the actualities of waritself. For the two days of the fight the decent young hero from a pros- perous northern tarm becomes a savage. You see the tiger slowly awake in him, and the man of affection, unselfistmess, and gentle feeling disappears in the smoke of battle. Droch. ** WHAT A CURIOUS PAPER-WEIONT !" fe is easy to acknowledge you were wrong when you know you will be praised for your moral courage. ‘“ YES, ONE OF MY WIFE'S PIES.” comicbooks.com