Life, 1897-08-05 · page 21 of 26
Life — August 5, 1897 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains social satire typical of early 20th-century Life magazine. **"His Excuse"** mocks a writer for The World newspaper who defends buying it by claiming he writes for the publication—a self-serving justification. **"On the Trail"** depicts a grandfather and grandchild, with the boy asking if his father was good as a boy, presumably eliciting an embarrassing or unflattering reminiscence. **"After the Jubilee"** shows a woman departing after an outing, likely satirizing modest or disappointing entertainment. **"A Mild Hint"** presents marital domestic comedy: a husband asks his wife for new songs; she offers old ones instead. When he complains one song is "very, very old," she reveals it's the same song she sang the night they got engaged seventeen years prior—implying their relationship has stagnated unchanged since then. The "hint" suggests he should be grateful rather than critical. All pieces target everyday social behavior and relationships through gentle ridicule, characteristic of Life's humor style.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
* LIFE: His Excuse. 6°17 SHOULD think you would be ashamed to buy a copy of The World.” “Tam; but I write for it, you know.” F there is among those who are care- less of their neighbors’ rights in the elevated cars one man more disturb- | ing than another it is the man who, crossing his legs, throws one foot over in front of his neighbor. There are men who sit in such a manner as to encroach upon their neighbors’ seat space; the man who sits and reads a paper opened out so that he holds one page over in front of his neighbor is not unknown, and there are others who in one way and another are careless or thoughtless of their neighbors’ rights; but the most disturbing of all, no doubr, is the man who hems in his neighbor with his foot, calmly appro- priating to himself space that belongs to another, and without the slightest regard for the other's rights or comfort. Even a person not of great natural ferocity might find in his heart a desire to tackle him. AFTER THE JUBILEE. AN INEXPENSIVE OUTING. A Mild Hint. EORGE, I have not any new songs to sing to you to-night.” “Give me something old, then.” She broke into a refrain that was ‘‘a song of the day” some seventeen years before. “That's very, very old, Mamie,” he said, with a “ ON THE TRAIL. sigh. “Yes, George; I sang that to you the night we became WHEN HE WAS A Boy? engaged.” Bobbre : MONEST, NOW, GRANDPA; WAS PAPA SO VERY GOOD