Life, 1897-07-29 · page 3 of 20
Life — July 29, 1897 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page 83: "Life" Magazine Satire This page contains three separate jokes typical of early 20th-century satirical humor. **Top illustration**: Shows a couple with a man remarking on another man's traveling habits. The joke plays on the phrase "traveling incog" (incognito)—suggesting the man travels secretly, possibly implying infidelity or impropriety. **"Answered the Purpose"**: Mocks a scornful critic who dismisses a trashy book as "trash," yet admits the author succeeded financially—satirizing the gap between literary merit and commercial success. **"A Phenomenon"**: Jokes about a precocious four-year-old understanding geometry or sugar schedules—absurdist humor mocking child prodigies or inflated claims about children's intelligence. **"The Trouble with Your Wife"**: A physician suggests the solution to a sedentary wife is working as a telephone operator delivering neighborhood messages—satire on women's prescribed domestic roles and emerging work opportunities.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“WHY, HE SEEMS A FI oT GENTLEMAN,” “VES, BUT YOU KN RAVELING incog.” Answered the Purpose. “6 = o TRASHY book!" the scornful ,, . ss efidiecetied, * HEY say that there is a four- And pitilessly he the lash applied. year-old boy in Baltimore ert The aaihor i for cash, aauied at the Who understands geometry.” * What can I do for it? lash; ‘Pooh! There's a four-year-old ‘‘I would put in a telephone, and The trashy book had filled his purse boy in Boston who understands the then she will be kept busy delivering with ‘ trash.” sugar schedule.” messages for the neighborhood.” A Phenomenon, S‘-7°HE trouble with your wife, Mr. Spudds,” said the phy- sician, ‘is lack of exercise.”