Life, 1896-12-31 · page 3 of 21
Life — December 31, 1896 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis The page contains two separate items: 1. **"Ambiguous" cartoon**: Two men in formal attire and hats meet at a rural homestead. The caption reveals dark humor about frontier mortality—one expresses condolences about the other losing his wife "Cicero," but the reply "Yes, pardons, but de lawd knows wot's bes' for us" suggests resignation to death as commonplace. The crude dialect and rural setting suggest satirical commentary on frontier life's harshness. 2. **"Mary's Little Calf"**: A brief humorous poem about Mary's calf that leaks, playing on the children's nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb." It's lighthearted doggerel. 3. **Text item about Dr. Bean**: A brief note regarding a Castle Garden Aquarium attraction and the Evening Post, apparently unrelated commentary. This appears to be miscellaneous filler content typical of period satirical magazines.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AMBIGUOUS. “1 AM SORRY TO HEAR THAT YOU HAVE LOST YOUR WIFE, “VES, PAHSON, BUT DE LAWD KNOWS WoT'S BES’ FOH US. MARY'S LITTLE CALF. R. BEAN, who runs the Castle permission tonse the Hon. ThomasC. ARY had a little calf, Garden Aquarium, wantsa man- Platt for bait, or even to exhibit Mr. M ‘Neath stocking white as snow, ¢atingshark. It is suggested thatap- Platt until the desired monster can be And everywhere the sawdust leaked plication at the office of the Evening procured. Mr. Platt's presence in the The calf was sure to go. Post would almost certainly result in Aquarium would excite much interest. comicbooks.com