Life, 1899-03-02 · page 15 of 20
Life — March 2, 1899 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes Lenten observance practices around 1900. The main cartoon depicts a dialogue in dialect humor (reflecting period conventions), with a figure noting he couldn't distinguish whether a "Patterson man" was approaching because an empty chicken coop provided no reference point—mocking how people use food availability to gauge situations. The text jokes that Lent is convenient because it lets various Christian denominations (Episcopalians, Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians) abstain from things they "don't want to do anyway"—cynically suggesting religious observance masks convenience rather than genuine devotion. A secondary satire addresses Baltimore's religious community debating whether terrapin (a local delicacy) counts as "flesh" under Lenten dietary restrictions—highlighting the absurdity of theological hairsplitting over loopholes. The U.S. Army's decision to avoid "embalmed beef" during Lent is presented as equally ridiculous institutional compliance. The right-side drawings of apartment dwellers mocking urban living conditions are unrelated visual humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“CLAR TER GOODNESS, EF I DIDN'T KNOW DEY WAS A CIIICKEN COOP OBER YONDER, "EN DAT BAO EMPTY, [ COULDN'T TELL EP DAT PATERSON MAN WAS GWINE ER COMIN’ !” L= is a wholesome season which permits not only good Episcopalians and Catholics, but Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, and other dissenters as well, to refrain during forty days of each year from doing a great many things that they don't want to do. Apropos of the sea- son of abstinence, it has developed that the religious people of Baltimore are in a state of perplex- ity to whether terrapin comes with- in the prohibition of flesh dict during Lent. A committee of ben cireurs has sent a statement of their predicament to Rome for final action. It is also stated that the entire United States army, from General Miles down, has decided to abstain from embalmed beef during the Lenten season, 475 SOME MODERN DEVELOPMENTS, UMI8 MAN LIVES IN UARLEM, AND TRAVELS UP AND DOWN TOWN BY BANGING ON 4 sTRaP. THIS MAN LIVES AT THE TOP OF AN RIGHT - STORY APARTMENT HOUSE WHERE THERE 18 NO ELEVATOR, comicbooks.com