Life, 1899-09-28 · page 14 of 20
Life — September 28, 1899 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine contains theatrical illustrations and three separate humorous anecdotes targeting social pretension and human folly. The top shows actors Francis Wilson (as Lady Macbeth) and Frank Daniels (as Marguerite), likely referencing contemporary theater productions. Below are three satirical jokes: 1. **"The Ancient Burmese"** mocks colonial-era stereotypes about non-Western peoples, depicting someone crawling to avoid falling—absurdist humor playing on period attitudes. 2. **Saratoga Christians** satirizes wealthy American resort culture, suggesting summer guests were predominantly non-Christian or immoral ("not enough to make it objectionable"). 3. **"His Peculiar Predicament"** is a rural dialect humor piece about a tavern keeper who accidentally drinks scarlet dye instead of medicine, resulting in a pun: he "dyed on the inside" (colored internally) while remaining blue (sad) outwardly. The page reflects *Life*'s satirical approach to social commentary through theatrical references, cultural stereotyping, and wordplay humor typical of late 19th/early 20th-century American comedy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Francis Wilson as “ Lady Macbeth.” The Ancient Burmese. HERE onco was an ancient Burmese, Who always crawled 'round on his knees, “ For,” said he, “I might fall If I stood up at all; 8o I'm very much safer on theso!" “Ae? you were at Saratoga this summer? Were there many Christians there?” “ Yes, there were some Christians, but not enough to make it objectionable.” His Peculiar Predicament. ‘<TQELLER by the name of Stang, here in the village, made a funny mistake the otber night,” said the loqua- cious landlord of the tavern at Petty- ville. ‘He hopped out of bed, about midnight, to git some medicine for the colic, and by mistake in the dark took a big swig out of a bottle of scarlet dye that his wife bad put away to save fur future use, About ten minutes later he Prank Dantes as Marguerite.” was hollerin’ like he had swallowed a red-hot torchlight procession.” “Did he die?” asked the drummer to whom the landlord wasrelating the yarn. ** Wa'al—er—" was the reply, ‘be did and he didn’t.” ** What do you mean by that?” “Why, he dyed on the inside, but he is still alive on the outside, Another fuony thing about it is that while he is undoubtedly very red inwardly, he still looks awful blue outwardly.” comicbooks.com